Ayub 7:7

7:7 Remember ¹  that my life is but a breath,

that ²  my eyes will never again ³  see happiness.

Mazmur 89:45-47

89:45 You have cut short his youth, ⁴ 

and have covered him with shame. (Selah)

89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever? ⁵ 

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

89:47 Take note of my brief lifespan! ⁶ 

Why do you make all people so mortal? ⁷ 

Mazmur 102:11

102:11 My days are coming to an end, ⁸ 

and I am withered like grass.

Mazmur 102:23-24

102:23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life; ⁹ 

he has cut short my days.

102:24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! ¹⁰ 

You endure through all generations. ¹¹ 

[7:7]  ¹ sn Job is probably turning here to God, as is clear from v. 11 on. The NIV supplies the word “God” for clarification. It was God who breathed breath into man’s nostrils (Gen 2:7), and so God is called to remember that man is but a breath.

[7:7]  ² tn The word “that” is supplied in the translation.

[7:7]  ³ tn The verb with the infinitive serves as a verbal hendiadys: “return to see” means “see again.”

[89:45]  ⁴ tn Heb “the days of his youth” (see as well Job 33:25).

[89:46]  ⁵ tn Heb “How long, O Lord, will hide yourself forever?”

[89:47]  ⁶ tn Heb “remember me, what is [my] lifespan.” The Hebrew term חֶלֶד (kheled) is also used of one’s lifespan in Ps 39:5. Because the Hebrew text is so awkward here, some prefer to emend it to read מֶה חָדֵל אָנִי (meh khadel ’aniy, “[remember] how transient [that is, “short-lived”] I am”; see Ps 39:4).

[89:47]  ⁷ tn Heb “For what emptiness do you create all the sons of mankind?” In this context the term שָׁוְא (shavah) refers to mankind’s mortal nature and the brevity of life (see vv. 45, 48).

[102:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “my days [are] like an extended [or “lengthening”] shadow,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness.

[102:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “he has afflicted my strength in the way.” The term “way” refers here to the course of the psalmist’s life, which appears to be ending prematurely (vv. 23b-24).

[102:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”

[102:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”