Job 18:17

18:17 His memory perishes from the earth,

he has no name in the land. ¹ 

Exodus 17:14

17:14 The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the ²  book, and rehearse ³  it in Joshua’s hearing; ⁴  for I will surely wipe out ⁵  the remembrance ⁶  of Amalek from under heaven.

Psalms 34:16

34:16 But the Lord opposes evildoers

and wipes out all memory of them from the earth. ⁷ 

Psalms 102:12

102:12 But you, O Lord, rule forever, ⁸ 

and your reputation endures. ⁹ 

Psalms 109:15

109:15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them, ¹⁰ 

and cut off the memory of his children ¹¹  from the earth!

Proverbs 10:7

10:7 The memory ¹²  of the righteous is a blessing,

but the reputation ¹³  of the wicked will rot. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 26:14

26:14 The dead do not come back to life,

the spirits of the dead do not rise. ¹⁵ 

That is because ¹⁶  you came in judgment ¹⁷  and destroyed them,

you wiped out all memory of them.

[18:17]  ¹ tn Heb “outside.” Cf. ESV, “in the street,” referring to absence from his community’s memory.

[17:14]  ² tn The presence of the article does not mean that he was to write this in a book that was existing now, but in one dedicated to this purpose (book, meaning scroll). See GKC 408 §126.s.

[17:14]  ³ tn The Hebrew word is “place,” meaning that the events were to be impressed on Joshua.

[17:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the ears of Joshua.” The account should be read to Joshua.

[17:14]  ⁵ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense to stress the resolution of Yahweh to destroy Amalek. The verb מָחָה (makhah) is often translated “blot out” – but that is not a very satisfactory image, since it would not remove completely what is the object. “Efface, erase, scrape off” (as in a palimpsest, a manuscript that is scraped clean so it can be reused) is a more accurate image.

[17:14]  ⁶ sn This would seem to be defeated by the preceding statement that the events would be written in a book for a memorial. If this war is recorded, then the Amalekites would be remembered. But here God was going to wipe out the memory of them. But the idea of removing the memory of a people is an idiom for destroying them – they will have no posterity and no lasting heritage.

[34:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “the face of the Lord [is] against the doers of evil to cut off from the earth memory of them.”

[102:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “sit” (i.e., sit enthroned, see Ps 9:7). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.

[102:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and your remembrance [is] for a generation and a generation.”

[109:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the Lord continually.”

[109:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their memory.” The plural pronominal suffix probably refers back to the children mentioned in v. 13, and for clarity this has been specified in the translation.

[10:7]  ¹² sn “Memory” (זֵכֶר, zekher) and “name” are often paired as synonyms. “Memory” in this sense has to do with reputation, fame. One’s reputation will be good or bad by righteousness or wickedness respectively.

[10:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “name.” The term “name” often functions as a metonymy of association for reputation (BDB 1028 s.v. שֵׁם 2.b).

[10:7]  ¹⁴ tn The editors of BHS suggest a reading “will be cursed” to make a better parallelism, but the reading of the MT is more striking as a metaphor.

[26:14]  ¹⁵ sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.

[26:14]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.

[26:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”