32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe, quiet places. 1
32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed 2
and the city is annihilated, 3
1 tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”
2 tn Heb “and [?] when the forest descends.” The form וּבָרַד (uvarad) is often understood as an otherwise unattested denominative verb meaning “to hail” (HALOT 154 s.v. I ברד). In this case one might translate, “and it hails when the forest is destroyed” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV). Perhaps the text alludes to a powerful wind and hail storm that knocks down limbs and trees. Some prefer to emend the form to וְיָרַד (vÿyarad), “and it descends,” which provides better, though not perfect, symmetry with the parallel line (cf. NAB). Perhaps וּבָרַד should be dismissed as dittographic. In this case the statement (“when the forest descends”) lacks a finite verb and seems incomplete, but perhaps it is subordinate to v. 20.
3 tn Heb “and in humiliation the city is laid low.”