19 The term נִדְמֶה (nidmeh, Niphal participle feminine singular) is derived from II דָמָה (damah; so 198 דָמָה; III דמה): “be cut off, cease to exist, be destroyed.” The Niphal form נִדְמֶה (“will be destroyed”) is paralleled by the Niphal וְנִשְׁמְדוּ (vénishmédu, “will be destroyed”) in 10:8. Several English versions nuance the literal wording for the sake of the idiom: “will float away like a twig on the surface of the waters” (), “Like a twig in a stream … will be swept away” (), “will be carried off like a chip of wood on an ocean wave” ().
20 The noun II קֶצֶף (qetsef) is a (a term that occurs only once). Historically, it has been understood in two different ways: (1) “foam” (, Aquila, Symmachus) and (2) “snapped-off twig” (, Theodotion, ). Both interpretations make sense in the light of the simile. The latter has more support because of the related verb קָצַץ (qatsats, “to cut off, chop off”) used in reference to wood ( 893 קָצַץ; קצץ) and the related feminine noun קְצָפָה (qétsafah, “stump; splinter” of fig-tree; 893 קְצָפָה; קְצָפָהs). English versions differ along these lines: (1) “foam” (, , ) and (2) “chip” (, , , ), “stick” (), “twig” (, ).