This verse follows the general assertion, not by giving evidence for it, but rather by offering a comparison. The comparisons or analogies are drawn from nature, which everyone should be able to observe.

He comes forth like a flower, and withers: the fragile aspect of human life is compared with a flower. Psalm 90.6 speaks of the grass in the same way: “In the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.” See also Psalm 103.15; 144.4; Isaiah 40.6-8. Comes forth translates “goes out” and is used here to depict the young plant springing up from the soil. Nothing is said about the duration of the flower. The focus is placed on the quick transition from young plant to withered, wilted flower. The line may be rendered, for example, “They begin their life like a growing flower, but then wither away” or “They grow like a flower, then dry up and fade away.”

The second line is parallel to the first, he flees like a shadow, and continues not. The image is that of silent and sudden disappearance. In 9.25 Job said “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away….” The same verb translated flee is also used here. Psalm 144.4 says “Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow.” In this verse it is the person who is pictured as rushing past like a shadow. And continues not translates “and stays not,” which serves to emphasize the passing, transient nature of a shadow. Good News Translation “We disappear like shadows” conveys the idea well in English. This line may have to be restructured, since in some languages a shadow does not act independently of the object which casts the shadow; for example, “They disappear like a person’s shadow” or “Like a person’s shadow moves away, they are soon gone.”

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 .