Job 10:21

before I depart, never to return, ¹  to the land of darkness and the deepest shadow, ² 

2Sa 12:23; 2Sa 14:14; Job 3:5; Job 7:8-10; Job 14:10-14; Ps 23:4; Ps 88:6,11,12; Isa 38:11; Jer 2:6

¹ sn The verbs are simple, “I go” and “I return”; but Job clearly means before he dies. A translation of “depart” comes closer to communicating this. The second verb may be given a potential imperfect translation to capture the point. The NIV offered more of an interpretive paraphrase: “before I go to the place of no return.”

² tn See Job 3:5.