17:14 If I cry 1 to corruption, 2 ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
1 tn This is understood because the conditional clauses seem to run to the apodosis in v. 15.
2 tn The word שַׁחַת (shakhat) may be the word “corruption” from a root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) or a word “pit” from שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”). The same problem surfaces in Ps 16:10, where it is parallel to “Sheol.” E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life, 76ff., defends the meaning “corruption.” But many commentators here take it to mean “the grave” in harmony with “Sheol.” But in this verse “worms” would suggest “corruption” is better.