Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G Message"His roots twist their way around the stone pile; he surveys what seems like a house built to last."
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.G"His roots coil around the stone heap; he gazes out upon a house of stones."
KJV
King James VersionHis roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleHis roots wrap around the rock heap; he looks for a home among the stones.
Footnotes
The image of roots entwining stones suggests the plant has made itself at home in the most inhospitable terrain — an impressive feat of apparent permanence. *Gal* (גַּל) can mean a heap of stones, a ruin-mound, or a cairn — possibly the ruins of a former dwelling, which gives the scene an eerie quality: the plant flourishes among the rubble of someone else's destruction. *Beit avanim* (בֵּית אֲבָנִים), "house of stones," may suggest a substantial, permanent structure — all the more shocking when it too is swept away. FOG retains the literal "stone heap"; FOG Message draws out the false sense of permanence.