Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageMay they be like grass on a rooftop—scorched and withered before a hand can reach for it—
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GMay they be like the grass of the rooftops, that withers before it can be drawn out—
KJV
King James VersionLet them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
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.