30:23 I know that you are bringing 1 me to death,
to the meeting place for all the living.
49:10 Surely 2 one sees 3 that even wise people die; 4
fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away 5
and leave their wealth to others. 6
57:1 The godly 7 perish,
but no one cares. 8
Honest people disappear, 9
when no one 10 minds 11
that the godly 12 disappear 13 because of 14 evil. 15
57:2 Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace;
they rest on their beds. 16
1 tn The imperfect verb would be a progressive imperfect, it is future, but it is also already underway.
2 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is understood here as asseverative (emphatic).
3 tn The subject of the verb is probably the typical “man” mentioned in v. 7. The imperfect can be taken here as generalizing or as indicating potential (“surely he/one can see”).
4 tn The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to what is characteristically true. The vav (ו) consecutive with perfect in the third line carries the same force.
5 tn Heb “together a fool and a brutish [man] perish.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 73:22; 92:6; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).
6 sn Death shows no respect for anyone. No matter how wise or foolish an individual happens to be, all pass away.
7 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”
8 tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”
9 tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
10 tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.
11 tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
12 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”
13 tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
14 tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).
15 tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.
16 tn Heb “he enters peace, they rest on their beds, the one who walks straight ahead of himself.” The tomb is here viewed in a fairly positive way as a place where the dead are at peace and sleep undisturbed.
17 tn The participle ὑπηρετήσας (Juphrethsa") is taken temporally.
18 tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.
19 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “was gathered to his fathers” (a Semitic idiom).
20 tn Grk “saw,” but the literal translation of the phrase “saw decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “looked at decay,” while here “saw decay” is really figurative for “experienced decay.” This remark explains why David cannot fulfill the promise.
21 tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).
22 tn Grk “and after this – judgment.”