Ayub 18:19

18:19 He has neither children nor descendants ¹  among his people,

no survivor in those places he once stayed. ² 

Mazmur 109:9-15

109:9 May his children ³  be fatherless,

and his wife a widow!

109:10 May his children ⁴  roam around begging,

asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home! ⁵ 

109:11 May the creditor seize ⁶  all he owns!

May strangers loot his property! ⁷ 

109:12 May no one show him kindness! ⁸ 

May no one have compassion ⁹  on his fatherless children!

109:13 May his descendants ¹⁰  be cut off! ¹¹ 

May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives! ¹² 

109:14 May his ancestors’ ¹³  sins be remembered by the Lord!

May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! ¹⁴ 

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

and cut off the memory of his children ¹⁶  from the earth!

Yesaya 14:20-22

14:20 You will not be buried with them, ¹⁷ 

because you destroyed your land

and killed your people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never be mentioned again.

14:21 Prepare to execute ¹⁸  his sons

for the sins their ancestors have committed. ¹⁹ 

They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,

or fill the surface of the world with cities.” ²⁰ 

14:22 “I will rise up against them,”

says the Lord who commands armies.

“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people, ²¹ 

including the offspring she produces,” ²² 

says the Lord.

[18:19]  ¹ tn The two words נִין (nin, “offspring”) and נֶכֶד (nekhed, “posterity”) are always together and form an alliteration. This is hard to capture in English, but some have tried: Moffatt had “son and scion,” and Tur-Sinai had “breed or brood.” But the words are best simply translated as “lineage and posterity” or as in the NIV “offspring or descendants.”

[18:19]  ² tn Heb “in his sojournings.” The verb גּוּר (gur) means “to reside; to sojourn” temporarily, without land rights. Even this word has been selected to stress the temporary nature of his stay on earth.

[109:9]  ³ tn Or “sons.”

[109:10]  ⁴ tn Or “sons.”

[109:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (vÿdoreshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (yÿgoreshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shi’elu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.

[109:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).

[109:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “the product of his labor.”

[109:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”

[109:12]  ⁹ tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).

[109:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “offspring.”

[109:13]  ¹¹ sn On the expression cut off see Ps 37:28.

[109:13]  ¹² tn Heb “in another generation may their name be wiped out.”

[109:14]  ¹³ tn Or “fathers’ sins.”

[109:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “not be wiped out.”

[109:14]  sn According to ancient Israelite theology and its doctrine of corporate solidarity and responsibility, children could be and often were punished for the sins of their parents. For a discussion of this issue see J. Kaminsky, Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible (JSOTSup). (Kaminsky, however, does not deal with Ps 109.)

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

[109:15]  ¹⁶ 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.

[14:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).

[14:21]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”

[14:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”

[14:21]  ²⁰ sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.

[14:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).

[14:22]  ²² tn Heb “descendant and child.”