Yosua 7:5

7:5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures ¹  and defeated them on the steep slope. ²  The people’s ³  courage melted away like water. ⁴ 

Ayub 22:11

22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, ⁵ 

and why a flood ⁶  of water covers you.

Mazmur 58:8

58:8 Let them be ⁷  like a snail that melts away as it moves along! ⁸ 

Let them be like ⁹  stillborn babies ¹⁰  that never see the sun!

[7:5]  ¹ tn The meaning and correct translation of the Hebrew word שְׁבָרִים (shÿvarim) is uncertain. The translation “fissures” is based on usage of the plural form of the noun in Ps 60:4 HT (60:2 ET), where it appears to refer to cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake. Perhaps deep ravines or gorges are in view, or the word is a proper noun (“all the way to Shebarim”).

[7:5]  ² sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.

[7:5]  ³ tn Or “army’s.”

[7:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”

[22:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “or dark you cannot see.” Some commentators and the RSV follow the LXX in reading אוֹ (’o, “or”) as אוֹר (’or, “light”) and translate it “The light has become dark” or “Your light has become dark.” A. B. Davidson suggests the reading “Or seest thou not the darkness.” This would mean Job does not understand the true meaning of the darkness and the calamities.

[22:11]  ⁶ tn The word שִׁפְעַת (shif’at) means “multitude of.” It is used of men, camels, horses, and here of waters in the heavens.

[58:8]  ⁷ tn There is no “to be” verb in the Hebrew text at this point, but a jussive tone can be assumed based on vv. 6-7.

[58:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “like a melting snail [that] moves along.” A. Cohen (Psalms [SoBB], 184) explains that the text here alludes “to the popular belief that the slimy trail which the snail leaves in its track is the dissolution of its substance.”

[58:8]  ⁹ tn The words “let them be like” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. The jussive mood is implied from the preceding context, and “like” is understood by ellipsis (see the previous line).

[58:8]  ¹⁰ tn This rare word also appears in Job 3:16 and Eccles 6:3.