11:19 You will lie down with 1 no one to make you afraid,
and many will seek your favor. 2
16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few, 3
and then I will go on the way of no return. 4
20:11 His bones 5 were full of his youthful vigor, 6
but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.
1 tn The clause that reads “and there is no one making you afraid,” is functioning circumstantially here (see 5:4; 10:7).
2 tn Heb “they will stroke your face,” a picture drawn from the domestic scene of a child stroking the face of the parent. The verb is a Piel, meaning “stroke, make soft.” It is used in the Bible of seeking favor from God (supplication); but it may on the human level also mean seeking to sway people by flattery. See further D. R. Ap-Thomas, “Notes on Some Terms Relating to Prayer,” VT 6 (1956): 225-41.
3 tn The expression is “years of number,” meaning that they can be counted, and so “the years are few.” The verb simply means “comes” or “lie ahead.”
4 tn The verbal expression “I will not return” serves here to modify the journey that he will take. It is “the road [of] I will not return.”
5 tn “Bones” is often used metonymically for the whole person, the bones being the framework, meaning everything inside, as well as the body itself.
6 sn This line means that he dies prematurely – at the height of his youthful vigor.