Job 11:20

But the eyes of the wicked fail, ¹  and escape ²  eludes them; their one hope ³  is to breathe their last.” ⁴ 

Le 26:16; De 28:65; Job 8:13,14; Job 18:14; Job 27:8; Job 31:16; Ps 69:3; Pr 10:24; Pr 20:20; La 4:17; Am 2:14; Am 5:19,20; Am 9:1-3; Lu 16:23-26; Heb 2:3

¹ tn The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to fail, cease, fade away.” The fading of the eyes, i.e., loss of sight, loss of life’s vitality, indicates imminent death.

² tn Heb a “place of escape” (with this noun pattern). There is no place to escape to because they all perish.

³ tn The word is to be interpreted as a metonymy; it represents what is hoped for.

⁴ tn Heb “the breathing out of the soul”; cf. KJV, ASV “the giving up of the ghost.” The line is simply saying that the brightest hope that the wicked have is death.