Job 16:22

Modern

For when only a few years are past I will go the way of no return.

Traditional

When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

Literal

For the years of my number have come, and the path of no return I shall walk.

Latin

Ecce enim breves anni transeunt, et semitam per quam non revertar ambulo.

Hebrew

English

For when only a few years are past I will go the way of no return.

Job thought his suffering would lead to his death (7:7, 21; 10:20–22). He asked God to show his innocence, even if he died before that happened.

Theme notes and profiles

Job 14:10
But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
Job 7:9–10
As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.
Job 14:5
Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,
Job 14:14
When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.
Ecclesiastes 12:5
…when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels—for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.