Ayub 20:5

20:5 that the elation of the wicked is brief, ¹ 

the joy of the godless ²  lasts but a moment. ³ 

Ayub 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Mazmur 62:3

62:3 How long will you threaten ⁴  a man?

All of you are murderers, ⁵ 

as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence. ⁶ 

Pengkhotbah 9:12

9:12 Surely, no one ⁷  knows his appointed time! ⁸ 

Like fish that are caught in a deadly ⁹  net, and like birds that are caught in a snare –

just like them, all people ¹⁰  are ensnared ¹¹  at an unfortunate ¹²  time that falls upon them suddenly.

Matius 24:38-39

24:38 For in those days before the flood, people ¹³  were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 24:39 And they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. ¹⁴  It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man. ¹⁵ 

Matius 24:1

The Destruction of the Temple

24:1 Now ¹⁶  as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. ¹⁷ 

Matius 5:2

5:2 Then ¹⁸  he began to teach ¹⁹  them by saying:

[20:5]  ¹ tn The expression in the text is “quite near.” This indicates that it is easily attained, and that its end is near.

[20:5]  ² tn For the discussion of חָנֵף (khanef, “godless”) see Job 8:13.

[20:5]  ³ tn The phrase is “until a moment,” meaning it is short-lived. But see J. Barr, “Hebrew ’ad, especially at Job 1:18 and Neh 7:3,” JSS 27 (1982): 177-88.

[62:3]  ⁴ tn The verb form is plural; the psalmist addresses his enemies. The verb הוּת occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “shout at.”

[62:3]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has a Pual (passive) form, but the verb form should be vocalized as a Piel (active) form. See BDB 953-54 s.v. רָצַח.

[62:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “like a bent wall and a broken fence.” The point of the comparison is not entirely clear. Perhaps the enemies are depicted as dangerous, like a leaning wall or broken fence that is in danger of falling on someone (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:69).

[9:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “man.” The term is used here in a generic sense and translated “no one.”

[9:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “time.” BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.d suggests that עֵת (’et, “time”) refers to an “uncertain time.” On the other hand, HALOT 901 s.v. עֵת 6 nuances it as “destined time,” that is, “no one knows his destined time [i.e., hour of destiny].” It is used in parallelism with זְמָן (zÿman, “appointed time; appointed hour”) in 3:1 (HALOT 273 s.v. זְמָן; BDB 273 s.v. זְמָן). Eccl 3:9-15 teaches God’s sovereignty over the appointed time-table of human events. Similarly, Qoheleth here notes that no one knows what God has appointed in any situation or time. This highlights the limitations of human wisdom and human ability, as 9:11 stresses.

[9:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “bad, evil.” The moral connotation hardly fits here. The adjective would seem to indicate that the net is the instrument whereby the fish come to ruin.

[9:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the sons of man.”

[9:12]  ¹¹ tn The Masoretes pointed the consonantal form יוקשׁים (“are ensnared”) as יוּקָשִׁים (yuqashim, Pual participle mpl from ַָיקֹשׁ, yaqosh, “to be ensnared”). This is an unusual form for a Pual participle: (1) The characteristic doubling of the middle consonant was omitted due to the lengthening of the preceding short vowel from יֻקָּשִׁים to יוּקָשִׁים (GKC 74 §20.n and 143 §52.s), and (2) The characteristic prefix מְ (mem) is absent, as in a few other Pual participles, e.g., Exod 3:2; Judg 13:8; 2 Kgs 2:10; Isa 30:24; 54:11 (GKC 143 §52.s). On the other hand, the consonant form יוקשים might actually be an example of the old Qal passive participle which dropped out of Hebrew at an early stage, and was frequently mistaken by the Masoretes as a Pual form (e.g., Jer 13:10; 23:32) (GKC 143 §52.s). Similarly, the Masoretes pointed אכל as אֻכָּל (’ukkal, Pual perfect 3rd person masculine singular “he was eaten”); however, it probably should be pointed אֻכַל (’ukhal, old Qal passive perfect 3rd person masculine singular “he was eaten”) because אָכַל (’akhal) only occurs in the Qal (see IBHS 373-74 §22.6a).

[9:12]  ¹² tn Heb “evil.” The term רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil; unfortunate”) is repeated in v. 12 in the two parts of the comparison: “fish are caught in an evil (רָעָה) net” and “men are ensnared at an unfortunate (רָעָה) time.”

[24:38]  ¹³ tn Grk “they,” but in an indefinite sense, “people.”

[24:39]  ¹⁴ sn Like the flood that came and took them all away, the coming judgment associated with the Son of Man will condemn many.

[24:39]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

[24:1]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[24:1]  ¹⁷ sn The Jerusalem temple was widely admired around the world. See Josephus, Ant. 15.11 [15.380-425]; J. W. 5.5 [5.184-227] and Tacitus, History 5.8, who called it “immensely opulent.” Josephus compared it to a beautiful snowcapped mountain.

[5:2]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And opening his mouth he taught them, saying.” The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκεν (edidasken) has been translated ingressively.