107:18 They lost their appetite for all food, 1
and they drew near the gates of death.
33:22 He 2 draws near to the place of corruption,
and his life to the messengers of death. 3
1 tn Heb “all food their appetite loathed.”
2 tn Heb “his soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, “life”] draws near.”
3 tn The MT uses the Hiphil participle, “to those who cause death.” This seems to be a reference to the belief in demons that brought about death, an idea not mentioned in the Bible itself. Thus many proposals have been made for this expression. Hoffmann and Budde divide the word into לְמוֹ מֵתִּים (lÿmo metim) and simply read “to the dead.” Dhorme adds a couple of letters to get לִמְקוֹם מֵתִּים (limqom metim, “to the place [or abode] of the dead”).