33:20 so that his life loathes food,
and his soul rejects appetizing fare. 1
33:22 He 2 draws near to the place of corruption,
and his life to the messengers of death. 3
1 tn Heb “food of desire.” The word “rejects” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “his soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, “life”] draws near.”
3 tn The MT uses the Hiphil participle, “to those who cause death.” This seems to be a reference to the belief in demons that brought about death, an idea not mentioned in the Bible itself. Thus many proposals have been made for this expression. Hoffmann and Budde divide the word into לְמוֹ מֵתִּים (lÿmo metim) and simply read “to the dead.” Dhorme adds a couple of letters to get לִמְקוֹם מֵתִּים (limqom metim, “to the place [or abode] of the dead”).