20:26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; 1
a fire which has not been kindled 2
will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent.
21:28 For you say,
‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, 3
and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’ 4
1 tn Heb “all darkness is hidden for his laid up things.” “All darkness” refers to the misfortunes and afflictions that await. The verb “hidden” means “is destined for.”
2 tn Heb “not blown upon,” i.e., not kindled by man. But G. R. Driver reads “unquenched” (“Hebrew notes on the ‘Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach’,” JBL 53 [1934]: 289).
3 sn The question implies the answer will be “vanished” or “gone.”
4 tn Heb “And where is the tent, the dwellings of the wicked.” The word “dwellings of the wicked” is in apposition to “tent.” A relative pronoun must be supplied in the translation.