37:35 I have seen ruthless evil men 1
growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil. 2
37:36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared! 3
I looked for them, but they could not be found.
17:14 In the evening there is sudden terror; 4
by morning they vanish. 5
This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,
the destiny of those who try to loot us! 6
1 tn The Hebrew uses the representative singular again here.
2 tn Heb “being exposed [?] like a native, luxuriant.” The Hebrew form מִתְעָרֶה (mit’areh) appears to be a Hitpael participle from עָרָה (’arah, “be exposed”), but this makes no sense in this context. Perhaps the form is a dialectal variant of מִתְעָלָה (“giving oneself an air of importance”; see Jer 51:3), from עָלָה (’alah, “go up”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 296). The noun אֶזְרָח (’ezrakh, “native, full citizen”) refers elsewhere to people, but here, where it is collocated with “luxuriant, green,” it probably refers to a tree growing in native soil.
3 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).
4 tn Heb “at the time of evening, look, sudden terror.”
5 tn Heb “before morning he is not.”
6 tn Heb “this is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who loot us.”