This verse follows on more suitably from verse 3 than from verse 4, and leads naturally to verse 6, which is the consequence of the dependent clauses of verse 5. Verses 5-6 are saying that, since a person’s life is short and he cannot break out of the limits God has imposed, God should leave mankind in peace to enjoy his short life. Verse 5 has three lines in Hebrew, the first beginning with “If” (Revised Standard Version Since) and the other two likewise being dependent clauses. Many translators, however, translate all three as statements.

Since his days are determined: his days means the number of days a person will live, his length of life. Determined translates the Hebrew for “cut,” which is idiomatic for “decided.” It is God who has decided how long a person’s life will be (Good News Translation “decided beforehand”).

And the number of his months is with thee: this expression expands from days to months but is parallel in meaning to the first line. In some languages it may be best to reduce lines a and b to one by saying, for example, “Since you have decided to make a human’s life short” or “Because you have decided not to give a person a long life.”

And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass: appointed translates the Hebrew “made” and has the sense of “fix, place, set.” His bounds refers to a fixed limit of time, not to a geographical place. Thus line c continues to speak of the limits of time a person will live. That he cannot pass means that humans are not able to go beyond or exceed the time limit, the length of life that God has fixed for them. The line may also be expressed, for example, “you also fixed the length of life that he can live” or “you also set a limit to the length of time he could live.”

There is a progression in the three lines going from days to months to a general designation of limits of time. Good News Translation has retained the three lines. It is not clear in Good News Translation until line c that God is the one who has limited man’s life span. It would be better to make this clear in line a; for example, “You decided beforehand how long he could live.”

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 .