Job 16:22

16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few,

and then I will go on the way of no return.

Job 22:23

22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;

if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,

Job 39:4

39:4 Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open;

they go off, and do not return to them.


tn The expression is “years of number,” meaning that they can be counted, and so “the years are few.” The verb simply means “comes” or “lie ahead.”

tn The verbal expression “I will not return” serves here to modify the journey that he will take. It is “the road [of] I will not return.”

tc The MT has “you will be built up” (תִּבָּנֶה, tibbaneh). But the LXX has “humble yourself” (reading תְּעַנֶּה [tÿanneh] apparently). Many commentators read this; Dahood has “you will be healed.”

tn The idea is that of the open countryside. The Aramaism is found only here.