Job 14:8

Although its roots may grow old ¹  in the ground and its stump begins to die ²  in the soil, ³ 

Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,

"Though its roots grow old in the ground And its stump dies in the dry soil,

Though its roots have grown old in the earth and its stump decays,

Even if its roots are old and gnarled, its stump long dormant,

Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust;

Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground,

Though its root may grow old in the earth, And its stump may die in the ground,

Although its roots may grow old ¹  in the ground and its stump begins to die ²  in the soil, ³ 

¹ tn The Hiphil of זָקַן (zaqan, “to be old”) is here an internal causative, “to grow old.”

² tn The Hiphil is here classified as an inchoative Hiphil (see GKC 145 §53.e), for the tree only begins to die. In other words, it appears to be dead, but actually is not completely dead.

³ tn The LXX translates “dust” [soil] with “rock,” probably in light of the earlier illustration of the tree growing in the rocks.

sn Job is thinking here of a tree that dies or decays because of a drought rather than being uprooted, because the next verse will tell how it can revive with water.