Isaiah 24:4

24:4 The earth dries up and withers,

the world shrivels up and withers;

the prominent people of the earth fade away.

Isaiah 32:9-11

The Lord Will Give True Security

32:9 You complacent women,

get up and listen to me!

You carefree daughters,

pay attention to what I say!

32:10 In a year’s time

you carefree ones will shake with fear,

for the grape harvest will fail,

and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!

Shake with fear, you carefree ones!

Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –

put sackcloth on your waist!

Proverbs 16:18

16:18 Pride goes 10  before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall. 11 

Proverbs 30:13

30:13 There is a generation whose eyes are so lofty, 12 

and whose eyelids are lifted up disdainfully. 13 

Ezekiel 16:49-50

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity 14  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help 15  the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them.

Zephaniah 3:11

3:11 In that day you 16  will not be ashamed of all your rebelliousness against me, 17 

for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast, 18 

and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.


tn Some prefer to read “land” here, but the word pair אֶרֶץ/תֵּבֵל (erets/tevel [see the corresponding term in the parallel line]) elsewhere clearly designates the earth/world (see 1 Sam 2:8; 1 Chr 16:30; Job 37;12; Pss 19:4; 24:1; 33:8; 89:11; 90:2; 96:13; 98:9; Prov 8:26, 31; Isa 14:16-17; 34:1; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Lam 4:12). According to L. Stadelmann, תבל designates “the habitable part of the world” (The Hebrew Conception of the World [AnBib], 130).

tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists the homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism.

tn Heb “the height of the people of the earth.” The translation assumes an emendation of the singular form מְרוֹם (mÿrom, “height of”) to the plural construct מְרֹמֵי (mÿrome, “high ones of”; note the plural verb at the beginning of the line), and understands the latter as referring to the prominent people of human society.

tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”

tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”

tn Heb “days upon a year.”

tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.

tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khirdu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, shaanannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, rÿgazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, pÿshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ’orah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khirdu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “aramaized” forms.

sn The two lines of this proverb are synonymous parallelism, and so there are parasynonyms. “Pride” is paired with “haughty spirit” (“spirit” being a genitive of specification); and “destruction” is matched with “a tottering, falling.”

10 tn Heb “[is] before destruction.”

11 sn Many proverbs have been written in a similar way to warn against the inevitable disintegration and downfall of pride. W. McKane records an Arabic proverb: “The nose is in the heavens, the seat is in the mire” (Proverbs [OTL], 490).

12 tn Heb “how high are its eyes!” This is a use of the interrogative pronoun in exclamatory sentences (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 25, §127).

13 tn Heb “its eyelids are lifted up,” a gesture indicating arrogance and contempt or disdain for others. To make this clear, the present translation supplies the adverb “disdainfully” at the end of the verse.

14 tn Or “guilt.”

15 tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

16 sn The second person verbs and pronouns are feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed here.

17 tn Heb “In that day you not be ashamed because of all your actions, [in] which you rebelled against me.”

18 tn Heb “the arrogant ones of your pride.”