12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen
and disarms 1 the powerful. 2
12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth 3
of their understanding; 4
he makes them wander
in a trackless desert waste. 5
23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre, 6
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are the dignitaries 7 of the earth?
23:9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –
to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty, 8
to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.
1 tn The expression in Hebrew uses מְזִיחַ (mÿziakh, “belt”) and the Piel verb רִפָּה (rippah, “to loosen”) so that “to loosen the belt of the mighty” would indicate “to disarm/incapacitate the mighty.” Others have opted to change the text: P. Joüon emends to read “forehead” – “he humbles the brow of the mighty.”
2 tn The word אָפַק (’afaq, “to be strong”) is well-attested, and the form אָפִיק (’afiq) is a normal adjective formation. So a translation like “mighty” (KJV, NIV) or “powerful” is acceptable, and further emendations are unnecessary.
3 tn Heb “the heads of the people of the earth.”
4 tn Heb “heart.”
5 tn The text has בְּתֹהוּ לֹא־דָרֶךְ (bÿtohu lo’ darekh): “in waste – no way,” or “in a wasteland [where there is] no way,” thus, “trackless” (see the discussion of negative attributes using לֹא [lo’] in GKC 482 §152.u).
6 tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.
7 tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”
8 tn Heb “the pride of all the beauty.”