Ayub 14:21

14:21 If ¹  his sons are honored, ² 

he does not know it; ³ 

if they are brought low,

he does not see ⁴  it.

Mazmur 6:5

6:5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death, ⁵ 

In Sheol who gives you thanks? ⁶ 

Mazmur 88:10-11

88:10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?

Do the departed spirits ⁷  rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)

88:11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,

or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? ⁸ 

Yesaya 63:16

63:16 For you are our father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not recognize us.

You, Lord, are our father;

you have been called our protector from ancient times. ⁹ 

[14:21]  ¹ tn The clause may be interpreted as a conditional clause, with the second clause beginning with the conjunction serving as the apodosis.

[14:21]  ² tn There is no expressed subject for the verb “they honor,” and so it may be taken as a passive.

[14:21]  ³ sn Death is separation from the living, from the land of the living. And ignorance of what goes on in this life, good or bad, is part of death. See also Eccl 9:5-6, which makes a similar point.

[14:21]  ⁴ tn The verb is בִּין (bin, “to perceive; to discern”). The parallelism between “know” and “perceive” stress the point that in death a man does not realize what is happening here in the present life.

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זֵכֶר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 30:4; 97:12. “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.

[6:5]  ⁶ tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[6:5]  sn In Sheol who gives you thanks? According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention (Pss 30:9; 88:10-12; Isa 38:18). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!

[88:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).

[88:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”

[63:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”