2 Raja-raja 19:26

19:26 Their residents are powerless, ¹ 

they are terrified and ashamed.

They are as short-lived as plants in the field,

or green vegetation. ² 

They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops ³ 

when it is scorched by the east wind. ⁴ 

Ayub 14:7

The Inevitability of Death

14:7 “But there is hope for ⁵  a tree: ⁶ 

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its new shoots will not fail.

[19:26]  ¹ tn Heb “short of hand.”

[19:26]  ² tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.

[19:26]  ³ tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.

[19:26]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah), “standing grain,” to קָדִים (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isa^a in Isa 37:27).

[14:7]  ⁵ tn The genitive after the construct is one of advantage – it is hope for the tree.

[14:7]  ⁶ sn The figure now changes to a tree for the discussion of the finality of death. At least the tree will sprout again when it is cut down. Why, Job wonders, should what has been granted to the tree not also be granted to humans?