5:14 So Death 1 will open up its throat,
and open wide its mouth; 2
Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it,
including those who revel and celebrate within her. 3
10:3 What will you do on judgment day, 4
when destruction arrives from a distant place?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
10:1 Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, 5
those who are always instituting unfair regulations, 6
1:1 From Paul, 7 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1 tn Heb “Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); the underworld, the land of the dead, according to the OT world view. Cf. NAB “the nether world”; TEV, CEV “the world of the dead”; NLT “the grave.”
2 tn Heb “so Sheol will make wide its throat, and open its mouth without limit.”
3 tn Heb “and her splendor and her masses will go down, and her tumult and the one who exults in her.” The antecedent of the four feminine singular pronominal suffixes used in v. 14b is unclear. The likely referent is personified Zion/Jerusalem (see 3:25-26; 4:4-5).
4 tn Heb “the day of visitation” (so KJV, ASV), that is, the day when God arrives to execute justice on the oppressors.
5 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who decree evil decrees.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
6 tn Heb “[to] the writers who write out harm.” The participle and verb are in the Piel, suggesting repetitive action.
7 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.