Job 11:20

11:20 But the eyes of the wicked fail, ¹ 

and escape ²  eludes them;

their one hope ³  is to breathe their last.” ⁴ 

Job 20:24

20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon,

then an arrow ⁵  from a bronze bow pierces him.

Job 27:22

27:22 It hurls itself against him without pity ⁶ 

as he flees headlong from its power.

Psalms 68:12

68:12 Kings leading armies run away – they run away! ⁷ 

The lovely lady ⁸  of the house divides up the loot.

Amos 1:14

1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s ⁹  city wall; ¹⁰ 

fire ¹¹  will consume her fortresses.

War cries will be heard on the day of battle; ¹² 

a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. ¹³ 

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ¹⁴ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ¹⁵  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Amos 9:1

9:1 I saw the sovereign One ¹⁶  standing by the altar ¹⁷  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ¹⁸  so the thresholds shake!

Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ¹⁹ 

and I will kill the survivors ²⁰  with the sword.

No one will be able to run away; ²¹ 

no one will be able to escape. ²² 

[11:20]  ¹ tn The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to fail, cease, fade away.” The fading of the eyes, i.e., loss of sight, loss of life’s vitality, indicates imminent death.

[11:20]  ² tn Heb a “place of escape” (with this noun pattern). There is no place to escape to because they all perish.

[11:20]  ³ tn The word is to be interpreted as a metonymy; it represents what is hoped for.

[11:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “the breathing out of the soul”; cf. KJV, ASV “the giving up of the ghost.” The line is simply saying that the brightest hope that the wicked have is death.

[20:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “a bronze bow pierces him.” The words “an arrow from” are implied and are supplied in the translation; cf. “pulls it out” in the following verse.

[27:22]  ⁶ tn The verb is once again functioning in an adverbial sense. The text has “it hurls itself against him and shows no mercy.”

[68:12]  ⁷ tn The verbal repetition draws attention to the statement.

[68:12]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew form appears to be the construct of נוּה (nuh, “pasture”) but the phrase “pasture of the house” makes no sense here. The translation assumes that the form is an alternative or corruption of נצוה (“beautiful woman”). A reference to a woman would be appropriate in light of v. 11b.

[1:14]  ⁹ sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.

[1:14]  ¹⁰ sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ¹² tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”

[1:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”

[5:19]  ¹⁴ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[9:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:1]  ¹⁷ sn The altar is perhaps the altar at Bethel.

[9:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the capitals.” The Hebrew singular form is collective.

[9:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “cut them off on the head of all of them.” The translation assumes the objective suffix on the verb refers to the tops of the pillars and that the following prepositional phrase refers to the people standing beneath. Another option is to take this phrase as referring to the pillars, in which case one could translate, “Knock all the tops of the pillars off.”

[9:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the remnant of them.” One could possibly translate, “every last one of them” (cf. NEB “to the last man”). This probably refers to those who survive the collapse of the temple, which may symbolize the northern kingdom.

[9:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “a fugitive belonging to them will not run away.”

[9:1]  ²² tn Heb “a survivor belonging to them will not escape.”