7:16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans 1
and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. 2
36:4 He plans ways to sin while he lies in bed;
he is committed to a sinful lifestyle; 3
he does not reject what is evil. 4
52:7 “Look, here is the man who would not make 5 God his protector!
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” 6
1 tn Heb “his harm [i.e., the harm he conceived for others, see v. 14] returns on his head.”
2 tn Heb “and on his forehead his violence [i.e., the violence he intended to do to others] comes down.”
3 tn Heb “he takes a stand in a way [that is] not good.” The word “way” here refers metaphorically to behavior or life style.
4 tn The three imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 highlight the characteristic behavior of the typical evildoer.
5 tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”
6 tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ’azaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayya’az), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ’oshro, “his wealth”).