20:6 Even though his stature 1 reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds,
20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; 2
those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
39:27 Is it at your command 3 that the eagle soars,
and builds its nest on high?
39:28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there,
on a rocky crag 4 and a fortress. 5
49:16 The terror you inspire in others 6
and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you.
You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks;
you may occupy the highest places in the hills. 7
But even if you made your home where the eagles nest,
I would bring you down from there,”
says the Lord.
2:9 The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. 8
He does this so he can build his nest way up high
and escape the clutches of disaster. 9
1 tn The word שִׂיא (si’) has been connected with the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”), and so interpreted here as “pride.” The form is parallel to “head” in the next part, and so here it refers to his stature, the part that rises up and is crowned. But the verse does describe the pride of such a person, with his head in the heavens.
2 tn There have been attempts to change the word here to “like a whirlwind,” or something similar. But many argue that there is no reason to remove a coarse expression from Zophar.
3 tn Heb “your mouth.”
4 tn Heb “upon the tooth of a rock.”
5 tn The word could be taken as the predicate, but because of the conjunction it seems to be adding another description of the place of its nest.
6 tn The meaning of this Hebrew word (תִּפְלֶצֶת, tifletset) is uncertain because it occurs only here. However, it is related to a verb root that refers to the shaking of the pillars (of the earth) in Job 9:6 and a noun (מִפְלֶצֶת, mifletset) that refers to “horror” or “shuddering” used in Job 21:6; Isa 21:4; Ezek 7:18; Ps 55:6. This is the nuance that is accepted by BDB, KBL, HAL and a majority of the modern English versions. The suffix is an objective genitive. The fact that the following verb is masculine singular suggests that the text here (הִשִּׁיא אֹתָךְ, hishi’ ’otakh) is in error for הִשִּׁיאָתָךְ (hishi’atakh; so G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 327, n. 16.a).
7 tn The Hebrew text of the first four lines reads: “Your terror [= the terror you inspire] has deceived you, [and] the arrogance of your heart, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who occupy the heights of the hill.” The sentence is broken up and restructured to better conform with English style.
8 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who profits unjustly by evil unjust gain for his house.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
9 tn Heb “to place his nest in the heights in order to escape from the hand of disaster.”