Ayub 7:9

7:9 As ¹  a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, ² 

so the one who goes down to the grave ³ 

does not come up again. ⁴ 

Ayub 9:28

9:28 I dread ⁵  all my sufferings, ⁶ 

for ⁷  I know that you do not hold me blameless. ⁸ 

Ayub 30:15

30:15 Terrors are turned loose ⁹  on me;

they drive away ¹⁰  my honor like the wind,

and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

Hosea 13:3

13:3 Therefore they will disappear like ¹¹  the morning mist, ¹² 

like early morning dew that evaporates, ¹³ 

like chaff that is blown away ¹⁴  from a threshing floor,

like smoke that disappears through an open window.

[7:9]  ¹ tn The comparison is implied; “as” is therefore supplied in the translation.

[7:9]  ² tn The two verbs כָּלַה (kalah) and הָלַךְ (halakh) mean “to come to an end” and “to go” respectively. The picture is of the cloud that breaks up, comes to an end, is dispersed so that it is no longer a cloud; it then fades away or vanishes. This line forms a good simile for the situation of a man who comes to his end and disappears.

[7:9]  ³ tn The noun שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol) can mean “the grave,” “death,” or “Sheol” – the realm of departed spirits. In Job this is a land from which there is no return (10:21 and here). It is a place of darkness and gloom (10:21-22), a place where the dead lie hidden (14:13); as a place appointed for all no matter what their standing on earth might have been (30:23). In each case the precise meaning has to be determined. Here the grave makes the most sense, for Job is simply talking about death.

[7:9]  ⁴ sn It is not correct to try to draw theological implications from this statement or the preceding verse (Rashi said Job was denying the resurrection). Job is simply stating that when people die they are gone – they do not return to this present life on earth. Most commentators and theologians believe that theological knowledge was very limited at such an early stage, so they would not think it possible for Job to have bodily resurrection in view. (See notes on ch. 14 and 19:25-27.)

[9:28]  ⁵ tn The word was used in Job 3:25; it has the idea of “dread, fear, tremble at.” The point here is that even if Job changes his appearance, he still dreads the sufferings, because he knows that God is treating him as a criminal.

[9:28]  ⁶ sn See Job 7:15; see also the translation by G. Perles, “I tremble in every nerve” (“The Fourteenth Edition of Gesenius-Buhl’s Dictionary,” JQR 18 [1905/06]: 383-90).

[9:28]  ⁷ tn The conjunction “for” is supplied in the translation.

[9:28]  ⁸ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 73) appropriately notes that Job’s afflictions were the proof of his guilt in the estimation of God. If God held him innocent, he would remove the afflictions.

[30:15]  ⁹ tn The passive singular verb (Hophal) is used with a plural subject (see GKC 388 §121.b).

[30:15]  ¹⁰ tc This translation assumes that “terrors” (in the plural) is the subject. Others emend the text in accordance with the LXX, which has, “my hope is gone like the wind.”

[13:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they will be like” (so NASB, NIV).

[13:3]  ¹² tn The phrase כְּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר (kÿ’anan-boqer, “like a cloud of the morning”) occurs also in Hos 6:4 in a similar simile. The Hebrew poets and prophets refer to morning clouds as a simile for transitoriness (Job 7:9; Isa 44:22; Hos 6:4; 13:3; HALOT 858 s.v. עָנָן 1.b; BDB 778 s.v. עָנָן 1.c).

[13:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “like the early rising dew that goes away”; TEV “like the dew that vanishes early in the day.”

[13:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “storm-driven away”; KJV, ASV “driven with the whirlwind out.” The verb יְסֹעֵר (yÿso’er, Poel imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from סָעַר, sa’ar, “to storm”) often refers to the intense action of strong, raging storm winds (e.g., Jonah 1:11, 13). The related nouns refer to “heavy gale,” “storm wind,” and “high wind” (BDB 704 s.v. סָעַר; HALOT 762 s.v. סער). The verb is used figuratively to describe the intensity of God’s destruction of the wicked whom he will “blow away” (Isa 54:11; Hos 13:3; Hab 3:14; Zech 7:14; BDB 704 s.v.; HALOT 762 s.v.).