14:18 But as 1 a mountain falls away and crumbles, 2
and as a rock will be removed from its place,
1 tn The indication that this is a simile is to be obtained from the conjunction beginning 19c (see GKC 499 §161.a).
2 tn The word יִבּוֹל (yibbol) usually refers to a flower fading and so seems strange here. The LXX and the Syriac translate “and will fall”; most commentators accept this and repoint the preceding word to get “and will surely fall.” Duhm retains the MT and applies the image of the flower to the falling mountain. The verb is used of the earth in Isa 24:4, and so NIV, RSV, and NJPS all have the idea of “crumble away.”