24:16 From the ends of the earth we 1 hear songs –
the Just One is majestic. 2
But I 3 say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!
Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” 4
24:17 Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! 5
24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit; 6
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens 7 are opened up 8
and the foundations of the earth shake.
24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,
the earth is ripped to shreds,
the earth shakes violently. 9
24:20 The earth will stagger around 10 like a drunk;
it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. 11
Its sin will weigh it down,
and it will fall and never get up again.
1 sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.
2 tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.
3 sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.
4 tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”
5 tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.
6 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
7 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
8 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
9 tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each lines ends with אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.
10 tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.
11 tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.