Translations
KJVPrimary
King James VersionLet them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GMay they be like the grass of the rooftops, that withers before it can be drawn out—
F.O.G.M
F.O.G MessageMay they be like grass on a rooftop—scorched and withered before a hand can reach for it—
BSB
Berean Standard BibleMay they be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can grow,
Footnotes
Flat-roofed mud-brick houses in ancient Canaan collected windblown soil in their parapets; grass would sprout after rain but, having no depth of earth to anchor it, would wither almost immediately under the Palestinian sun. *She-qadmat shalaf yavesh* (שֶׁקַּדְמַת שָׁלַף יָבֵשׁ): *qadmat* means "before" or "in advance of"; *shalaf* means "to draw out" or "pull up"; and *yavesh* means "it withers." The grass dries and dies before anyone can even bend to pull it—it never reaches the threshold of harvest. The image is one of utter futility: briefly visible, quickly gone, never counted. FOG retains "drawn out" for its agricultural precision; FOG Message adds "scorched" to evoke the blazing sun that makes rooftop grass so hopelessly short-lived.
