20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; 1
those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
37:36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared! 2
I looked for them, but they could not be found.
52:5 Yet 3 God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. 4
He will scoop you up 5 and remove you from your home; 6
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
52:6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying: 7
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
2:10 Your schemes will bring shame to your house.
Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. 10
2:11 For the stones in the walls will cry out,
and the wooden rafters will answer back. 11
1 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.
2 tn Heb “and he passes by and, look, he is not [there].” The subject of the verb “passes by” is probably indefinite, referring to any passerby. Some prefer to change the form to first person, “and I passed by” (cf. NEB; note the first person verbal forms in preceding verse and in the following line).
3 tn The adverb גַּם (gam, “also; even”) is translated here in an adversative sense (“yet”). It highlights the contrastive correspondence between the evildoer’s behavior and God’s response.
4 tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”
5 tn This rare verb (חָתָה, khatah) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.
6 tn Heb “from [your] tent.”
7 tn Heb “and the godly will see and will fear and at him will laugh.”
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.”
10 tn Heb “you planned shame for your house, cutting off many nations, and sinning [against] your life.”
11 sn The house mentioned in vv. 9-10 represents the Babylonian empire, which became great through imperialism. Here the materials of this “house” (the stones in the walls, the wooden rafters) are personified as witnesses who testify that the occupants have built the house through wealth stolen from others.