16. dig through—Houses in the East are generally built of sun-dried mud bricks (so Mt 6:19). "Thieves break through," literally, "dig through" (Eze 12:7).
had marked—Rather, as in Job 9:7, "They shut themselves up" (in their houses); literally, "they seal up."
for themselves—for their own ends, namely, to escape detection.
know not—shun.