Yesaya 44:12-17
Konteks44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool 1
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it 2 with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy; 3
he drinks no water and gets tired.
44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; 4
he marks out an outline of its form; 5
he scrapes 6 it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form, 7
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine. 8
44:14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress 9 or an oak.
He gets 10 trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar 11 and the rain makes it grow.
44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; 12
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it. 13
44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –
over that half he cooks 14 meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
44:17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
Yesaya 47:12-13
Konteks47:12 Persist 15 in trusting 16 your amulets
and your many incantations,
which you have faithfully recited 17 since your youth!
Maybe you will be successful 18 –
maybe you will scare away disaster. 19
47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. 20
Let them take their stand –
the ones who see omens in the sky,
who gaze at the stars,
who make monthly predictions –
let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! 21
Yesaya 55:2
Konteks55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? 22
Why spend 23 your hard-earned money 24 on something that will not satisfy?
Listen carefully 25 to me and eat what is nourishing! 26
Enjoy fine food! 27
Yesaya 57:1
Konteksbut no one cares. 29
Honest people disappear, 30
[44:12] 1 tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.
[44:12] 2 tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.
[44:12] 3 tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”
[44:13] 4 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
[44:13] 5 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
[44:13] 6 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
[44:13] 7 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
[44:13] 8 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”
[44:14] 9 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
[44:14] 10 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
[44:14] 11 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (’oren) to אֶרֶז (’erez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”
[44:15] 12 tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”
[44:15] 13 tn Or perhaps, “them.”
[44:16] 14 tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”
[47:12] 15 tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”
[47:12] 16 tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.
[47:12] 17 tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”
[47:12] 18 tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”
[47:12] 19 tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.
[47:13] 20 tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”
[47:13] 21 tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”
[55:2] 22 tn Heb “for what is not food.”
[55:2] 23 tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[55:2] 24 tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.
[55:2] 25 tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.
[55:2] 26 tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[55:2] 27 tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”
[55:2] sn Nourishing, fine food here represents the blessings God freely offers. These include forgiveness, a new covenantal relationship with God, and national prominence (see vv. 3-6).
[57:1] 28 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”
[57:1] 29 tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”
[57:1] 30 tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
[57:1] 31 tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.
[57:1] 32 tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[57:1] 33 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”
[57:1] 34 tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
[57:1] 35 tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).
[57:1] 36 tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.
