Mazmur 73:18-20

73:18 Surely ¹  you put them in slippery places;

you bring them down ²  to ruin.

73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!

Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! ³ 

73:20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. ⁴ 

O Lord, when you awake ⁵  you will despise them. ⁶ 

Ayub 24:24

24:24 They are exalted for a little while,

and then they are gone, ⁷ 

they are brought low ⁸  like all others,

and gathered in, ⁹ 

and like a head of grain they are cut off.’ ¹⁰ 

Ibrani 10:36-37

10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. ¹¹  10:37 For just a little longer ¹²  and he who is coming will arrive and not delay. ¹³ 

Ibrani 10:1

Concluding Exposition: Old and New Sacrifices Contrasted

10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. ¹⁴ 

Pengkhotbah 4:7

Labor Motivated by Greed

4:7 So ¹⁵  I again considered ¹⁶  another ¹⁷  futile thing on earth: ¹⁸ 

Wahyu 6:10-11

6:10 They ¹⁹  cried out with a loud voice, ²⁰  “How long, ²¹  Sovereign Master, ²²  holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” 6:11 Each ²³  of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached ²⁴  of both their fellow servants ²⁵  and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.

[73:18]  ¹ tn The use of the Hebrew term אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) here literarily counteracts its use in v. 13. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between the two statements, the first of which expresses the psalmist’s earlier despair and the second his newly discovered confidence.

[73:18]  ² tn Heb “cause them to fall.”

[73:19]  ³ tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”

[73:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.

[73:20]  ⁵ sn When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.

[73:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.

[24:24]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew throughout this section (vv. 18-24) interchanges the singular and the plural. Here again we have “they are exalted…but he is not.” The verse is clear nonetheless: the wicked rise high, and then suddenly they are gone.

[24:24]  ⁸ tn The verb is the Hophal of the rare verb מָכַךְ (makhakh), which seems to mean “to bend; to collapse.” The text would read “they are made to collapse like all others.” There is no reason here to change “like others” just because the MT is banal. But many do, following the LXX with “like mallows.” The LXX was making a translation according to sense. R. Gordis (Job, 271) prefers “like grass.”

[24:24]  ⁹ tn The verb קָפַץ (qafats) actually means “to shut in,” which does not provide exactly the idea of being gathered, not directly at least. But a change to קָטַף (qataf, “pluck”) while attractive, is not necessary.

[24:24]  ¹⁰ sn This marks the end of the disputed section, taken here to be a quotation by Job of their sentiments.

[10:36]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.

[10:37]  ¹² sn A quotation from Isa 26:20.

[10:37]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Hab 2:3.

[10:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “those who approach.”

[4:7]  ¹⁵ tn The prefixed vav on וְשַׁבְתִּי (vÿshavti, vav + perfect 1st person common singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to turn”) might be: (1) introductory (and left untranslated): “I observed again…”; (2) consequence of preceding statement: “So I observed again…”; or (3) continuation of preceding statement: “And I observed again….”

[4:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I turned and I saw…”; or “I again considered.” The Hebrew phrase וָאֶרְאֶה…וְשַׁבְתִּי (vÿshavti…va’er’eh, “I turned and I saw”) is a verbal hendiadys (the two verbs represent one common idea). Normally in a verbal hendiadys, the first verb functions adverbially, modifying the second verb which retains its full verbal force. The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn”) is used idiomatically to denote repetition: “to return and do” = “to do again” (e.g., Gen 26:18; 30:31; 43:2) or “to do repeatedly” (e.g., Lam 3:3); see HALOT 1430 s.v. שׁוב 5; BDB 998 s.v. שׁוּב 8; GKC 386 §120.e: “I observed again” or “I repeatedly observed.” On the other hand, the shift from the perfect וְשַׁבְתִּי (vav + perfect 1st person common singular from שׁוּב, “to turn”) to the preterite וָאֶרְאֶה (vav + Qal preterite 1st person common singular from רָאָה, ra’ah, “to see”) might indicate a purpose clause: “I turned [my mind] to consider….” The preterite וָאֶרְאֶה follows the perfect וְשַׁבְתִּי. When a wayyiqtol form (vav + preterite) follows a perfect in reference to a past-time situation, the preterite also represents a past-time situation. Its aspect is based on the preceding perfect. In this context, the perfect and preterite may denote definite past or indefinite past action (“I turned and considered …” as hendiadys for “I observed again” or “I repeatedly observed”) or past telic action (“I turned [my mind] to consider…”). See IBHS 554-55 §33.3.1a.

[4:7]  ¹⁷ tn The word “another” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[6:10]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “voice, saying”; the participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[6:10]  ²¹ tn The expression ἕως πότε (ews pote) was translated “how long.” Cf. BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.γ.

[6:10]  ²² tn The Greek term here is δεσπότης (despoths; see L&N 37.63).

[6:11]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:11]  ²⁴ tn Grk “until they had been completed.” The idea of a certain “number” of people is implied by the subject of πληρωθῶσιν (plhrwqwsin).

[6:11]  ²⁵ tn Though σύνδουλος (sundoulos) has been translated “fellow servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.