Job 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Ecclesiastes 6:3

6:3 Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years –

even if he lives a long, long time, ¹  but cannot enjoy his prosperity –

even if he were to live forever ²  –

I would say, “A stillborn child ³  is better off than he is!” ⁴ 

Isaiah 14:18-20

14:18 ⁵ As for all the kings of the nations,

all of them ⁶  lie down in splendor, ⁷ 

each in his own tomb. ⁸ 

14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave

like a shoot that is thrown away. ⁹ 

You lie among ¹⁰  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ¹¹  the stones of the pit, ¹² 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ¹³ 

14:20 You will not be buried with them, ¹⁴ 

because you destroyed your land

and killed your people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never be mentioned again.

Jeremiah 22:19

22:19 He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey.

His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’” ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 36:30

36:30 So the Lord says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, “None of his line will occupy the throne of David. ¹⁶  His dead body will be thrown out to be exposed to scorching heat by day and frost by night. ¹⁷ 

Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ¹⁸  struck ¹⁹  Herod ²⁰  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ²¹ 

[6:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the days of his years are many.”

[6:3]  ² tn Heb “he has no burial.” The phrase וְגַם־קְבוּרָה לֹא־הָיְתָה (vÿgam-qÿvurah lo’-haytah, “he even has no burial”) is traditionally treated as part of a description of the man’s sorry final state, that is, he is deprived of even a proper burial (KJV, NEB, RSV, NRSV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NJPS, MLB, Moffatt). However, the preceding parallel lines suggest that this a hyperbolic protasis: “If he were to live one hundred years…even if he were never buried [i.e., were to live forever]….” A similar idea occurs elsewhere (e.g., Pss 49:9; 89:48). See D. R. Glenn, “Ecclesiastes,” BKCOT, 990.

[6:3]  ³ tn The noun נֶפֶל (nefel) denotes “miscarriage” and by metonymy of effect, “stillborn child” (e.g., Ps 58:9; Job 3:16; Eccl 6:3); cf. HALOT 711. The noun is related to the verb נָפַל (nafal, “to fall,” but occasionally “to be born”; see Isa 26:18); cf. HALOT 710 s.v. נפל 5.

[6:3]  ⁴ sn The point of 6:3-6 is that the futility of unenjoyed wealth is worse than the tragedy of being stillborn.

[14:18]  ⁵ sn It is unclear where the quotation of the kings, begun in v. 10b, ends. However, the reference to the “kings of the nations” in v. 18 (see also v. 9) seems to indicate that the quotation has ended at this point and that Israel’s direct taunt (cf. vv. 4b-10a) has resumed. In fact the references to the “kings of the nations” may form a stylistic inclusio or frame around the quotation.

[14:18]  ⁶ tc The phrase “all of them” does not appear in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.

[14:18]  ⁷ sn This refers to the typically extravagant burial of kings.

[14:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “house” (so KJV, ASV), but in this context a tomb is in view. Note the verb “lie down” in the preceding line and the reference to a “grave” in the next line.

[14:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

[14:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ¹² tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

[14:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[14:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).

[22:19]  ¹⁵ sn A similar judgment against this ungodly king is pronounced by Jeremiah in 36:30. According to 2 Chr 36:6 he was bound over to be taken captive to Babylon but apparently died before he got there. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar ordered his body thrown outside the wall in fulfillment of this judgment. The Bible itself, however, does not tell us that.

[36:30]  ¹⁶ sn This prophesy was not “totally” fulfilled because his son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) did occupy the throne for three months (2 Kgs 23:8). However, his rule was negligible and after his capitulation and exile to Babylon, he himself was promised that neither he nor his successors would occupy the throne of David (cf. Jer 22:30; and see the study notes on 22:24, 30).

[36:30]  ¹⁷ sn Compare the more poetic prophecy in Jer 22:18-19 and see the study note on 22:19.

[12:23]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ¹⁹ sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ²¹ sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).