8:13 But it will not go well with the wicked,
nor will they 1 prolong their 2 days like a shadow, 3
because they 4 do not stand in fear 5 before God.
9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything;
they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears. 6
1 tn Heb “he.”
2 tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
3 tn The phrase “like a shadow” (כַּצֵּל, katsel) modifies the verb (“prolong”) rather than the noun (“days”). Several English versions misconstrue the line: “he will not prolong his days, [which are] like a shadow” (KJV, ASV); “the man who does not fear God is like a shadow” (NEB); and “he will not prolong his shadowy days” (NAB). It should be rendered “he will not prolong his days like a shadow” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NIV). Unlike a shadow that lengthens at sunset, the wicked do not normally live long.
4 tn Heb “he.”
5 tn Heb “they do not fear.”
6 tn Heb “for their memory is forgotten.” The pronominal suffix is an objective genitive, “memory of them.”