26:14 The dead do not come back to life,
the spirits of the dead do not rise. 1
That is because 2 you came in judgment 3 and destroyed them,
you wiped out all memory of them.
1 sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.
2 tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.
3 tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”