Job 16:23

4 translations of 93 that include the Old Testament

Douay-Rheims 1899

For behold short years pass away and I am walking in a path by which I shall not return.

But my years are numbered and their end come, and I shall go by the way by which I shall not return.

But my years are numbered and their end come, and I shall go by the way by which I shall not return.

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

Traditions differ. Each position is shown rather than one asserted as settled.

Traditional: 2000 BC–1800 BC Unknown
The patriarchal setting and absence of Israelite institutions have long suggested a very early origin.
Critical: 600 BC–400 BC Unknown
Language and the developed treatment of suffering point to the exilic or post-exilic period.

Events overlapping when this passage is dated (2000 BC–400 BC).

2600 BC–1900 BC Indus Valley cities India
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro housed tens of thousands, with planned streets and drainage, and a script still undeciphered.
2055 BC–1650 BC Egyptian Middle Kingdom Egypt
Egypt reunified under Theban rule; large-scale irrigation works and the classical form of the Egyptian language date from this period.
1900 BC–1450 BC Minoan palace culture Greece
Crete supported a literate palace society trading across the Aegean long before mainland Greece.
1755 BC–1750 BC Code of Hammurabi Mesopotamia
Babylonian law code inscribed on a basalt stele, covering property, family and injury, and predating the Mosaic law codes.
1600 BC–1046 BC Shang dynasty oracle bones China
The earliest substantial Chinese writing, inscribed on bone and shell for divination.
1600 BC–1178 BC Hittite empire Anatolia
An Anatolian power rivalling Egypt, ended in the Bronze Age collapse.
1200 BC–1150 BC Late Bronze Age collapse Mediterranean
Within roughly two generations most eastern Mediterranean states fell; cities were destroyed, trade networks broke and literacy contracted sharply.
1200 BC–1000 BC Iron working spreads in the Levant Levant
Iron gradually displaced bronze for tools and weapons across the eastern Mediterranean.