Are thy days as the days of man: that is, “Do you have as few days to live as a man does?” or “… as a human being does?” or “Is your life as short as a person’s?” By asking this question Job widens the scope of his inquiry. This question asks if God is not afraid Job will die before he can fully complete his torture of him. In putting his question in this way, Job continues his sarcasm. Line b or thy years as man’s years is in Hebrew “or your years like the days of a man?” Man in line a is the Hebrew term ʾenosh, which is translated “mortal” by New English Bible, New International Version. Man in line b renders the Hebrew term geber, which denotes a human of male gender. There is little poetic movement between the lines, and so Good News Translation has reduced them to one with “Is your life as short as ours?”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .