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.

Yesaya 4:2

The Branch of the Lord

4:2 At that time ⁷ 

the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; ⁸ 

the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight

to those who remain in Israel. ⁹ 

[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?

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[4:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the Lord will become beauty and honor.” Many English versions understand the phrase צֶמַח יְהוָה (tsemakh yÿhvah) as a messianic reference and render it, “the Branch of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and others). Though צֶמַח (tsemakh) is used by later prophets of a royal descendant (Jer 23;5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12), those passages contain clear contextual indicators that a human ruler is in view and that the word is being used in a metaphorical way of offspring. However, in Isa 4:2 there are no such contextual indicators. To the contrary, in the parallel structure of the verse צֶמַח יְהוָה corresponds to “produce of the land,” a phrase that refers elsewhere exclusively to literal agricultural produce (see Num 13:20, 26; Deut 1:25). In the majority of its uses צֶמַח refers to literal crops or vegetation (in Ps 65:10 the Lord is the source of this vegetation). A reference to the Lord restoring crops would make excellent sense in Isa 4 and the prophets frequently included this theme in their visions of the future age (see Isa 30:23-24; 32:20; Jer 31:12; Ezek 34:26-29; and Amos 9:13-14).

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the fruit of the land will become pride and beauty for the remnant of Israel.”