29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,
the horde of tyrants 1 like chaff that is blown away.
It will happen suddenly, in a flash.
48:3 “I announced events beforehand, 2
I issued the decrees and made the predictions; 3
suddenly I acted and they came to pass.
30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.
You will be like a high wall
that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;
it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. 4
47:11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away. 5
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it. 6
1 tn Or “violent men”; cf. NASB “the ruthless ones.”
2 tn Heb “the former things beforehand I declared.”
3 tn Heb “and from my mouth they came forth and I caused them to be heard.”
3 tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.
4 tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.
5 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”