Job 9:25

My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Job addresses God in a lament about the rapid passage of his life amid perceived divine injustice. He speaks these words during a theological debate where he questions how a righteous person can contend with an omnipotent Creator.

The words — The Hebrew phrase וְ/יָמַ֣/י (ve./ya.Ma/i) combined with קַ֭לּוּ (Ka.lu) literally renders "and my days have been swift." The verb בָּֽ֝רְח֗וּ (ba.re.Chu) means "they have fled," emphasizing the uncontrolled speed of his life.

The thread — This theme of fleeting days appears in Job 7:6, where life is compared to a weaver’s shuttle, and in Psalms 90:9, which notes that years end with a sigh. The New Testament echoes this brevity in James 4:14, describing human existence as a temporary mist.

Why it lands — The text states that life moves too quickly to accumulate lasting comfort or visible justice. It requires the reader to confront mortality without relying on temporal rewards or immediate divine intervention.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְיָמַ֣יve./ya.Ma/iand/ days/ my קַ֭לּוּKa.luthey have been swift מִנִּי־mi.ni-more than רָ֑ץRatza runner בָּֽ֝רְח֗וּba.re.Chuthey have fled לֹא־lo'-not רָא֥וּra.'Uthey have seen טוֹבָֽה׃to.Vahgood

King James Version

Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.

Cross-references

Job 7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
James 4:14 You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Psalms 90:9 For all our days decline in Your fury; we finish our years with a sigh.
Esther 8:14 The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.
Psalms 39:5 You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
Psalms 39:11 You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
Psalms 89:47 Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!