36:11 If they obey and serve him,
they live out their days in prosperity
and their years in pleasantness. 1
36:12 But if they refuse to listen,
they pass over the river of death, 2
and expire without knowledge.
1 tc Some commentators delete this last line for metrical considerations. But there is no textual evidence for the deletion; it is simply the attempt by some to make the meter rigid.
2 tn This is a similar expression to the one in Job 33:18, where the suggestion was made by many that it means crossing over the canal or river of death. Some retain the earlier interpretation of “perish by the sword” (cf. NIV).