Yesaya 24:1--35:10
Konteks24:1 Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth
and leave it in ruins;
he will mar its surface
and scatter its inhabitants.
24:2 Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, 1
the master as well as the servant, 2
the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, 3
the seller as well as the buyer, 4
the borrower as well as the lender, 5
the creditor as well as the debtor. 6
24:3 The earth will be completely devastated
and thoroughly ransacked.
For the Lord has decreed this judgment. 7
24:4 The earth 8 dries up 9 and withers,
the world shrivels up and withers;
the prominent people of the earth 10 fade away.
24:5 The earth is defiled by 11 its inhabitants, 12
for they have violated laws,
disregarded the regulation, 13
and broken the permanent treaty. 14
24:6 So a treaty curse 15 devours the earth;
its inhabitants pay for their guilt. 16
This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear, 17
and are reduced to just a handful of people. 18
24:7 The new wine dries up,
the vines shrivel up,
all those who like to celebrate 19 groan.
24:8 The happy sound 20 of the tambourines stops,
the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,
the happy sound of the harp ceases.
24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine; 21
the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.
24:10 The ruined town 22 is shattered;
all of the houses are shut up tight. 23
24:11 They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; 24
all joy turns to sorrow; 25
celebrations disappear from the earth. 26
24:12 The city is left in ruins; 27
the gate is reduced to rubble. 28
24:13 This is what will happen throughout 29 the earth,
among the nations.
It will be like when they beat an olive tree,
and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest. 30
24:14 They 31 lift their voices and shout joyfully;
they praise 32 the majesty of the Lord in the west.
24:15 So in the east 33 extol the Lord,
along the seacoasts extol 34 the fame 35 of the Lord God of Israel.
24:16 From the ends of the earth we 36 hear songs –
the Just One is majestic. 37
But I 38 say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!
Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” 39
24:17 Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! 40
24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit; 41
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens 42 are opened up 43
and the foundations of the earth shake.
24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,
the earth is ripped to shreds,
the earth shakes violently. 44
24:20 The earth will stagger around 45 like a drunk;
it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. 46
Its sin will weigh it down,
and it will fall and never get up again.
24:21 At that time 47 the Lord will punish 48
the heavenly forces in the heavens 49
and the earthly kings on the earth.
24:22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, 50
locked up in a prison,
and after staying there for a long time, 51 they will be punished. 52
24:23 The full moon will be covered up, 53
the bright sun 54 will be darkened; 55
for the Lord who commands armies will rule 56
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem 57
in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor. 58
25:1 O Lord, you are my God! 59
I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame. 60
For you have done extraordinary things,
and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. 61
25:2 Indeed, 62 you have made the city 63 into a heap of rubble,
the fortified town into a heap of ruins;
the fortress of foreigners 64 is no longer a city,
it will never be rebuilt.
25:3 So a strong nation will extol you;
the towns of 65 powerful nations will fear you.
25:4 For you are a protector for the poor,
a protector for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm,
a shade from the heat.
Though the breath of tyrants 66 is like a winter rainstorm, 67
25:5 like heat 68 in a dry land,
you humble the boasting foreigners. 69
Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside, 70
so he causes the song of tyrants to cease. 71
25:6 The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. 72
At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine –
tender meat and choicest wine. 73
25:7 On this mountain he will swallow up
the shroud that is over all the peoples, 74
the woven covering that is over all the nations; 75
25:8 he will swallow up death permanently. 76
The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,
and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
Indeed, the Lord has announced it! 77
25:9 At that time they will say, 78
“Look, here 79 is our God!
We waited for him and he delivered us.
Here 80 is the Lord! We waited for him.
Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”
25:10 For the Lord’s power will make this mountain secure. 81
Moab will be trampled down where it stands, 82
as a heap of straw is trampled down in 83 a manure pile.
25:11 Moab 84 will spread out its hands in the middle of it, 85
just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim;
the Lord 86 will bring down Moab’s 87 pride as it spreads its hands. 88
25:12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your 89 walls) 90 he will knock down,
he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground. 91
26:1 At that time 92 this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city!
The Lord’s 93 deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. 94
26:2 Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter –
one that remains trustworthy.
26:3 You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith,
for they trust in you. 95
26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, 96
even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! 97
26:5 Indeed, 98 the Lord knocks down those who live in a high place,
he brings down an elevated town;
he brings it down to the ground, 99
he throws it down to the dust.
26:6 It is trampled underfoot
by the feet of the oppressed,
by the soles of the poor.”
26:7 100 The way of the righteous is level,
the path of the righteous that you make is straight. 101
26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold, 102
O Lord, we wait for you.
We desire your fame and reputation to grow. 103
26:9 I 104 look for 105 you during the night,
my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,
for when your judgments come upon the earth,
those who live in the world learn about justice. 106
26:10 If the wicked are shown mercy,
they do not learn about justice. 107
Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; 108
they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.
26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, 109
but they don’t even notice.
They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, 110
yes, fire will consume your enemies. 111
26:12 O Lord, you make us secure, 112
for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us. 113
26:13 O Lord, our God,
masters other than you have ruled us,
but we praise your name alone.
26:14 The dead do not come back to life,
the spirits of the dead do not rise. 114
That is because 115 you came in judgment 116 and destroyed them,
you wiped out all memory of them.
26:15 You have made the nation larger, 117 O Lord,
you have made the nation larger and revealed your splendor, 118
you have extended all the borders of the land.
26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you;
they uttered incantations because of your discipline. 119
26:17 As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver
and strains and cries out because of her labor pains,
so were we because of you, O Lord.
26:18 We were pregnant, we strained,
we gave birth, as it were, to wind. 120
We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;
people to populate the world are not born. 121
26:19 122 Your dead will come back to life;
your corpses will rise up.
Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! 123
For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, 124
and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. 125
26:20 Go, my people! Enter your inner rooms!
Close your doors behind you!
Hide for a little while,
until his angry judgment is over! 126
26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, 127
to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.
The earth will display the blood shed on it;
it will no longer cover up its slain. 128
27:1 At that time 129 the Lord will punish
with his destructive, 130 great, and powerful sword
Leviathan the fast-moving 131 serpent,
Leviathan the squirming serpent;
he will kill the sea monster. 132
27:2 When that time comes, 133
sing about a delightful vineyard! 134
27:3 I, the Lord, protect it; 135
I water it regularly. 136
I guard it night and day,
so no one can harm it. 137
27:4 I am not angry.
I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!
Then I would march against them 138 for battle;
I would set them 139 all on fire,
27:5 unless they became my subjects 140
and made peace with me;
let them make peace with me. 141
27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root; 142
Israel will blossom and grow branches.
The produce 143 will fill the surface of the world. 144
27:7 Has the Lord struck down Israel like he did their oppressors? 145
Has Israel been killed like their enemies? 146
27:8 When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her; 147
he drives her away 148 with his strong wind in the day of the east wind. 149
27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, 150
and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: 151
They will make all the stones of the altars 152
like crushed limestone,
and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. 153
27:10 For the fortified city 154 is left alone;
it is a deserted settlement
and abandoned like the desert.
Calves 155 graze there;
they lie down there
and eat its branches bare. 156
27:11 When its branches get brittle, 157 they break;
women come and use them for kindling. 158
For these people lack understanding, 159
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
27:12 At that time 160 the Lord will shake the tree, 161 from the Euphrates River 162 to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites. 163 27:13 At that time 164 a large 165 trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost 166 in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in 167 the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. 168
28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, 169
the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, 170
situated 171 at the head of a rich valley,
the crown of those overcome with wine. 172
28:2 Look, the sovereign master 173 sends a strong, powerful one. 174
With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, 175
with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, 176
he will knock that crown 177 to the ground with his hand. 178
28:3 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
will be like an early fig before harvest –
as soon as someone notices it,
he grabs it and swallows it. 179
28:5 At that time 180 the Lord who commands armies will become a beautiful crown
and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.
28:6 He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions,
and strength to those who defend the city from attackers. 181
28:7 Even these men 182 stagger because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer –
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused 183 because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, 184
they totter while making legal decisions. 185
28:8 Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit;
no place is untouched. 186
28:9 Who is the Lord 187 trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining a message? 188
Those just weaned from milk!
Those just taken from their mother’s breast! 189
28:10 Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there. 190
28:11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue
he will speak to these people. 191
28:12 In the past he said to them, 192
“This is where security can be found.
Provide security for the one who is exhausted!
This is where rest can be found.” 193
But they refused to listen.
28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like
meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there. 194
As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, 195
and be injured, ensnared, and captured. 196
28:14 Therefore, listen to the Lord’s word,
you who mock,
you rulers of these people
who reside in Jerusalem! 197
28:15 For you say,
“We have made a treaty with death,
with Sheol 198 we have made an agreement. 199
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by 200
it will not reach us.
For we have made a lie our refuge,
we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” 201
28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:
“Look, I am laying 202 a stone in Zion,
an approved 203 stone,
set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. 204
The one who maintains his faith will not panic. 205
28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,
fairness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, 206
the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.
28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; 207
your agreement 208 with Sheol will not last. 209
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, 210
you will be overrun by it. 211
28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed, 212 every morning it will sweep by,
it will come through during the day and the night.” 213
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. 214
28:21 For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, 215
he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, 216
to accomplish his work,
his peculiar work,
to perform his task,
his strange task. 217
28:22 So now, do not mock,
or your chains will become heavier!
For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,
from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. 218
28:23 Pay attention and listen to my message! 219
Be attentive and listen to what I have to say! 220
28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? 221
Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?
28:25 Once he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,
sow the seed of the cumin plant,
and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? 222
28:26 His God instructs him;
he teaches him the principles of agriculture. 223
28:27 Certainly 224 caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge,
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. 225
Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,
and cumin seed with a flail.
28:28 Grain is crushed,
though one certainly does not thresh it forever.
The wheel of one’s wagon rolls over it,
but his horses do not crush it.
28:29 This also comes from the Lord who commands armies,
who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom. 226
29:1 Ariel is as good as dead 227 –
Ariel, the town David besieged! 228
Keep observing your annual rituals,
celebrate your festivals on schedule. 229
29:2 I will threaten Ariel,
and she will mourn intensely
and become like an altar hearth 230 before me.
29:3 I will lay siege to you on all sides; 231
I will besiege you with troops; 232
I will raise siege works against you.
29:4 You will fall;
while lying on the ground 233 you will speak;
from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. 234
Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; 235
from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. 236
29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,
the horde of tyrants 237 like chaff that is blown away.
It will happen suddenly, in a flash.
29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, 238
accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,
by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.
29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.
There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel,
those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.
29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,
only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. 239
It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,
only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. 240
So it will be for the horde from all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
29:9 You will be shocked and amazed! 241
You are totally blind! 242
They are drunk, 243 but not because of wine;
they stagger, 244 but not because of beer.
29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a strong urge to sleep deeply. 245
He has shut your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation 246 is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read 247 and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.” 29:12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read 248 and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.” 249
29:13 The sovereign master 250 says,
“These people say they are loyal to me; 251
they say wonderful things about me, 252
but they are not really loyal to me. 253
Their worship consists of
nothing but man-made ritual. 254
29:14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people –
an absolutely extraordinary deed. 255
Wise men will have nothing to say,
the sages will have no explanations.” 256
29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, 257
who do their work in secret and boast, 258
“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” 259
29:16 Your thinking is perverse! 260
Should the potter be regarded as clay? 261
Should the thing made say 262 about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?
Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?
29:17 In just a very short time 263
Lebanon will turn into an orchard,
and the orchard will be considered a forest. 264
29:18 At that time 265 the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,
and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. 266
29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;
the poor among humankind will take delight 267 in the Holy One of Israel. 268
29:20 For tyrants will disappear,
those who taunt will vanish,
and all those who love to do wrong will be eliminated 269 –
29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, 270
who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate 271
and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. 272
29:22 So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob: 273
“Jacob will no longer be ashamed;
their faces will no longer show their embarrassment. 274
29:23 For when they see their children,
whom I will produce among them, 275
they will honor 276 my name.
They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; 277
they will respect 278 the God of Israel.
29:24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding; 279
those who complain will acquire insight. 280
30:1 “The rebellious 281 children are as good as dead,” 282 says the Lord,
“those who make plans without consulting me, 283
who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, 284
and thereby compound their sin. 285
30:2 They travel down to Egypt
without seeking my will, 286
seeking Pharaoh’s protection,
and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. 287
30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,
and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.
30:4 Though his 288 officials are in Zoan
and his messengers arrive at Hanes, 289
30:5 all will be put to shame 290
because of a nation that cannot help them,
who cannot give them aid or help,
but only shame and disgrace.”
30:6 This is a message 291 about the animals in the Negev:
Through a land of distress and danger,
inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, 292
by snakes and darting adders, 293
they transport 294 their wealth on the backs of donkeys,
their riches on the humps of camels,
to a nation that cannot help them. 295
30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. 296
For this reason I call her
‘Proud one 297 who is silenced.’” 298
30:8 Now go, write it 299 down on a tablet in their presence, 300
inscribe it on a scroll,
so that it might be preserved for a future time
as an enduring witness. 301
30:9 For these are rebellious people –
they are lying children,
children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. 302
30:10 They 303 say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”
and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! 304
Tell us nice things,
relate deceptive messages. 305
30:11 Turn aside from the way,
stray off the path. 306
Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.” 307
30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“You have rejected this message; 308
you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, 309
and rely on that kind of behavior. 310
30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.
You will be like a high wall
that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;
it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. 311
30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,
so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. 312
Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough 313
to scoop a hot coal from a fire 314
or to skim off water from a cistern.” 315
30:15 For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:
“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; 316
if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, 317
but you are unwilling.
30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’
so you will indeed flee.
You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’
so your pursuers will be fast.
30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; 318
at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, 319
until the remaining few are as isolated 320
as a flagpole on a mountaintop
or a signal flag on a hill.”
30:18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;
he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. 321
Indeed, the Lord is a just God;
all who wait for him in faith will be blessed. 322
30:19 For people will live in Zion;
in Jerusalem 323 you will weep no more. 324
When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;
when he hears it, he will respond to you. 325
30:20 The sovereign master 326 will give you distress to eat
and suffering to drink; 327
but your teachers will no longer be hidden;
your eyes will see them. 328
30:21 You 329 will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,
“This is the correct 330 way, walk in it,”
whether you are heading to the right or the left.
30:22 You will desecrate your silver-plated idols 331
and your gold-plated images. 332
You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,
saying to them, “Get out!”
30:23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,
and the ground will produce crops in abundance. 333
At that time 334 your cattle will graze in wide pastures.
30:24 The oxen and donkeys used in plowing 335
will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork. 336
30:25 On every high mountain
and every high hill
there will be streams flowing with water,
at the time of 337 great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.
30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare
and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven days, 338
when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones 339
and heals their severe wound. 340
30:27 Look, the name 341 of the Lord comes from a distant place
in raging anger and awesome splendor. 342
He speaks angrily
and his word is like destructive fire. 343
30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river 344
that reaches one’s neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; 345
he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. 346
30:29 You will sing
as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.
You will be happy like one who plays a flute
as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel. 347
30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout 348
and intervene in power, 349
with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, 350
with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.
30:31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria; 351
he will beat them with a club.
30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel, 352
with which the Lord will beat them, 353
will be accompanied by music from the 354 tambourine and harp,
and he will attack them with his weapons. 355
30:33 For 356 the burial place is already prepared; 357
it has been made deep and wide for the king. 358
The firewood is piled high on it. 359
The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,
will ignite it.
31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, 360
those who rely on war horses,
and trust in Egypt’s many chariots 361
and in their many, many horsemen. 362
But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel 363
and do not seek help from the Lord.
31:2 Yet he too is wise 364 and he will bring disaster;
he does not retract his decree. 365
He will attack the wicked nation, 366
and the nation that helps 367 those who commit sin. 368
31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;
their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.
The Lord will strike with 369 his hand;
the one who helps will stumble
and the one being helped will fall.
Together they will perish. 370
31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:
“The Lord will be like a growling lion,
like a young lion growling over its prey. 371
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling. 372
In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. 373
31:5 Just as birds hover over a nest, 374
so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. 375
He will protect and deliver it;
as he passes over 376 he will rescue it.
31:6 You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled! 377 31:7 For at that time 378 everyone will get rid of 379 the silver and gold idols your hands sinfully made. 380
31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made; 381
a sword not made by humankind will destroy them. 382
They will run away from this sword 383
and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.
31:9 They will surrender their stronghold 384 because of fear; 385
their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.” 386
This is what the Lord says –
the one whose fire is in Zion,
whose firepot is in Jerusalem. 387
32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; 388
officials will promote justice. 389
32:2 Each of them 390 will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
32:3 Eyes 391 will no longer be blind 392
and ears 393 will be attentive.
32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment 394
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; 395
his mind plans out sinful deeds. 396
He commits godless deeds 397
and says misleading things about the Lord;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite 398
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. 399
32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; 400
he dreams up evil plans 401
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right. 402
32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security. 403
32:9 You complacent 404 women,
get up and listen to me!
You carefree 405 daughters,
pay attention to what I say!
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape 407 harvest will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!
Shake with fear, you carefree ones!
Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –
put sackcloth on your waist! 408
32:12 Mourn over the field, 409
over the delightful fields
and the fruitful vine!
32:13 Mourn 410 over the land of my people,
which is overgrown with thorns and briers,
and over all the once-happy houses 411
in the city filled with revelry. 412
32:14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded 413 city is abandoned.
Hill 414 and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited. 415
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there. 416
32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. 417
Then the desert will become an orchard
and the orchard will be considered a forest. 418
32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert
and fairness will live in the orchard. 419
32:17 Fairness will produce peace 420
and result in lasting security. 421
32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe, quiet places. 422
32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed 423
and the city is annihilated, 424
32:20 you will be blessed,
you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, 425
you who let your ox and donkey graze. 426
33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, 427
you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead, 428
the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish 429 deceiving, others will deceive you!
33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.
Give us strength each morning! 430
Deliver us when distress comes. 431
33:3 The nations run away when they hear a loud noise; 432
the nations scatter when you spring into action! 433
33:4 Your plunder 434 disappears as if locusts were eating it; 435
they swarm over it like locusts! 436
indeed, 438 he lives in heaven; 439
he fills Zion with justice and fairness.
33:6 He is your constant source of stability; 440
he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; 441
he gives all this to those who fear him. 442
33:7 Look, ambassadors 443 cry out in the streets;
messengers sent to make peace 444 weep bitterly.
there are no travelers. 446
Treaties are broken, 447
witnesses are despised, 448
human life is treated with disrespect. 449
33:9 The land 450 dries up 451 and withers away;
the forest of Lebanon shrivels up 452 and decays.
Sharon 453 is like the desert; 454
Bashan and Carmel 455 are parched. 456
33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“Now I will exalt myself;
now I will magnify myself. 457
you give birth to chaff;
your breath is a fire that destroys you. 459
33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes; 460
like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.
33:13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done!
You who are close by, recognize my strength!”
33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
panic 461 grips the godless. 462
They say, 463 ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?
Who among us can coexist with unquenchable 464 fire?’
33:15 The one who lives 465 uprightly 466
and speaks honestly;
the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures
and rejects a bribe; 467
the one who does not plot violent crimes 468
and does not seek to harm others 469 –
33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; 470
he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; 471
he will have food
and a constant supply of water.
33:17 You will see a king in his splendor; 472
you will see a wide land. 473
33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, 474
and you will ask yourselves, 475 “Where is the scribe?
Where is the one who weighs the money?
Where is the one who counts the towers?” 476
33:19 You will no longer see a defiant 477 people
whose language you do not comprehend, 478
whose derisive speech you do not understand. 479
33:20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!
You 480 will see Jerusalem, 481
a peaceful settlement,
a tent that stays put; 482
its stakes will never be pulled up;
none of its ropes will snap in two.
33:21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king. 483
Rivers and wide streams will flow through it; 484
no war galley will enter; 485
no large ships will sail through. 486
33:22 For the Lord, our ruler,
the Lord, our commander,
the Lord, our king –
he will deliver us.
33:23 Though at this time your ropes are slack, 487
the mast is not secured, 488
and the sail 489 is not unfurled,
at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot; 490
even the lame will drag off plunder. 491
33:24 No resident of Zion 492 will say, “I am ill”;
the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.
34:1 Come near, you nations, and listen!
Pay attention, you people!
The earth and everything it contains must listen,
the world and everything that lives in it. 493
34:2 For the Lord is angry at all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
34:3 Their slain will be left unburied, 494
their corpses will stink; 495
the hills will soak up their blood. 496
34:4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, 497
the sky will roll up like a scroll;
all its stars will wither,
like a leaf withers and falls from a vine
or a fig withers and falls from a tree. 498
34:5 He says, 499 “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. 500
Look, it now descends on Edom, 501
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,
it is covered 502 with fat;
it drips 503 with the blood of young rams and goats
and is covered 504 with the fat of rams’ kidneys.
For the Lord is holding a sacrifice 505 in Bozrah, 506
a bloody 507 slaughter in the land of Edom.
34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered 508 along with them,
as well as strong bulls. 509
Their land is drenched with blood,
their soil is covered with fat.
34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, 510
a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. 511
34:9 Edom’s 512 streams will be turned into pitch
and her soil into brimstone;
her land will become burning pitch.
34:10 Night and day it will burn; 513
its smoke will ascend continually.
Generation after generation it will be a wasteland
and no one will ever pass through it again.
34:11 Owls and wild animals 514 will live there, 515
all kinds of wild birds 516 will settle in it.
The Lord 517 will stretch out over her
the measuring line of ruin
and the plumb line 518 of destruction. 519
34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom
and all her officials will disappear. 520
34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow 521 in her fortified cities.
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there. 522
34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; 523
wild goats will bleat to one another. 524
Yes, nocturnal animals 525 will rest there
and make for themselves a nest. 526
34:15 Owls 527 will make nests and lay eggs 528 there;
they will hatch them and protect them. 529
Yes, hawks 530 will gather there,
each with its mate.
34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! 531
Not one of these creatures will be missing, 532
none will lack a mate. 533
For the Lord has issued the decree, 534
and his own spirit gathers them. 535
34:17 He assigns them their allotment; 536
he measures out their assigned place. 537
They will live there 538 permanently;
they will settle in it through successive generations.
35:1 Let the desert and dry region be happy; 539
let the wilderness 540 rejoice and bloom like a lily!
let it rejoice and shout with delight! 542
It is given the grandeur 543 of Lebanon,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the grandeur of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,
steady the knees that shake! 544
35:4 Tell those who panic, 545
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge!
With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” 546
35:5 Then blind eyes will open,
deaf ears will hear.
35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will flow 547 in the desert,
streams in the wilderness. 548
35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –
it will be called the Way of Holiness. 549
The unclean will not travel on it;
it is reserved for those authorized to use it 550 –
fools 551 will not stray into it.
35:9 No lions will be there,
no ferocious wild animals will be on it 552 –
they will not be found there.
Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. 553
They will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them, 554
happiness and joy will overwhelm 555 them;
grief and suffering will disappear. 556
[24:2] 1 tn Heb “and it will be like the people, like the priest.”
[24:2] 2 tn Heb “like the servant, like his master.”
[24:2] 3 tn Heb “like the female servant, like her mistress.”
[24:2] 4 tn Heb “like the buyer, like the seller.”
[24:2] 5 tn Heb “like the lender, like the borrower.”
[24:2] 6 tn Heb “like the creditor, just as the one to whom he lends.”
[24:3] 7 tn Heb “for the Lord has spoken this word.”
[24:4] 8 tn Some prefer to read “land” here, but the word pair אֶרֶץ/תֵּבֵל (erets/tevel [see the corresponding term in the parallel line]) elsewhere clearly designates the earth/world (see 1 Sam 2:8; 1 Chr 16:30; Job 37;12; Pss 19:4; 24:1; 33:8; 89:11; 90:2; 96:13; 98:9; Prov 8:26, 31; Isa 14:16-17; 34:1; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Lam 4:12). According to L. Stadelmann, תבל designates “the habitable part of the world” (The Hebrew Conception of the World [AnBib], 130).
[24:4] 9 tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists the homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism.
[24:4] 10 tn Heb “the height of the people of the earth.” The translation assumes an emendation of the singular form מְרוֹם (mÿrom, “height of”) to the plural construct מְרֹמֵי (mÿrome, “high ones of”; note the plural verb at the beginning of the line), and understands the latter as referring to the prominent people of human society.
[24:5] 11 tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”
[24:5] 12 sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.
[24:5] 13 tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”
[24:5] 14 tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”
[24:5] sn For a lengthy discussion of the identity of this covenant/treaty, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In this context, where judgment comes upon both the pagan nations and God’s covenant community, the phrase “permanent treaty” is intentionally ambiguous. For the nations this treaty is the Noahic mandate of Gen 9:1-7 with its specific stipulations and central regulation (Gen 9:7). By shedding blood, the warlike nations violated this treaty, which promotes population growth and prohibits murder. For Israel, which was also guilty of bloodshed (see Isa 1:15, 21; 4:4), this “permanent treaty” would refer more specifically to the Mosaic Law and its regulations prohibiting murder (Exod 20:13; Num 35:6-34), which are an extension of the Noahic mandate.
[24:6] 15 sn Ancient Near Eastern treaties often had “curses,” or threatened judgments, attached to them. (See Deut 28 for a biblical example of such curses.) The party or parties taking an oath of allegiance acknowledged that disobedience would activate these curses, which typically threatened loss of agricultural fertility as depicted in the following verses.
[24:6] 16 tn The verb אָשַׁם (’asham, “be guilty”) is here used metonymically to mean “pay, suffer for one’s guilt” (see HALOT 95 s.v. אשׁם).
[24:6] 17 tn BDB 359 s.v. חָרַר derives the verb חָרוּ (kharu) from חָרַר (kharar, “burn”), but HALOT 351 s.v. II חרה understands a hapax legomenon חָרָה (kharah, “to diminish in number,” a homonym of חָרָה) here, relating it to an alleged Arabic cognate meaning “to decrease.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has חורו, perhaps understanding the root as חָוַר (khavar, “grow pale”; see Isa 29:22 and HALOT 299 s.v. I חור).
[24:6] 18 tn Heb “and mankind is left small [in number].”
[24:7] 19 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “all the joyful in heart,” but the context specifies the context as parties and drinking bouts.
[24:8] 20 tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).
[24:9] 21 tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”
[24:10] 22 tn Heb “the city of chaos” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Isaiah uses the term תֹּהוּ (tohu) rather frequently of things (like idols) that are empty and worthless (see BDB 1062 s.v.), so the word might characterize the city as rebellious or morally worthless. However, in this context, which focuses on the effects of divine judgment, it probably refers to the ruined or worthless condition in which the city is left (note the use of the word in Isa 34:11). For a discussion of the identity of this city, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In the context of universal judgment depicted in Isa 24, this city represents all the nations and cities of the world which, like Babylon of old and the powers/cities mentioned in chapters 13-23, rebel against God’s authority. Behind the stereotypical language one can detect various specific manifestations of this symbolic and paradigmatic city, including Babylon, Moab, and Jerusalem, all of which are alluded or referred to in chapters 24-27.
[24:10] 23 tn Heb “every house is closed up from entering.”
[24:11] 24 tn Heb “[there is] an outcry over the wine in the streets.”
[24:11] 25 tn Heb “all joy turns to evening,” the darkness of evening symbolizing distress and sorrow.
[24:11] 26 tn Heb “the joy of the earth disappears.”
[24:12] 27 tn Heb “and there is left in the city desolation.”
[24:12] 28 tn Heb “and [into] rubble the gate is crushed.”
[24:13] 29 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
[24:13] 30 sn The judgment will severely reduce the earth’s population. See v. 6.
[24:14] 31 sn The remnant of the nations (see v. 13) may be the unspecified subject. If so, then those who have survived the judgment begin to praise God.
[24:14] 32 tn Heb “they yell out concerning.”
[24:15] 33 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “in the lights,” interpreted by some to mean “in the region of light,” referring to the east. Some scholars have suggested the emendation of בָּאֻרִים (ba’urim) to בְּאִיֵּי הַיָּם (bÿ’iyyey hayyam, “along the seacoasts”), a phrase that is repeated in the next line. In this case, the two lines form synonymous parallelism. If one retains the MT reading (as above), “in the east” and “along the seacoasts” depict the two ends of the earth to refer to all the earth (as a merism).
[24:15] 34 tn The word “extol” is supplied in the translation; the verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.
[24:15] 35 tn Heb “name,” which here stands for God’s reputation achieved by his mighty deeds.
[24:16] 36 sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.
[24:16] 37 tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.
[24:16] 38 sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.
[24:16] 39 tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”
[24:16] tn Verse 16b is a classic example of Hebrew wordplay. In the first line (“I’m wasting away…”) four consecutive words end with hireq yod ( ִי); in the second line all forms are derived from the root בָּגַד (bagad). The repetition of sound draws attention to the prophet’s lament.
[24:17] 40 tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.
[24:18] 41 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[24:18] 42 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
[24:18] 43 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
[24:19] 44 tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each lines ends with אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.
[24:20] 45 tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.
[24:20] 46 tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
[24:21] 47 tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[24:21] 48 tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”
[24:21] 49 tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13).
[24:22] 50 tn Heb “they will be gathered [in] a gathering [as] a prisoner in a cistern.” It is tempting to eliminate אֲסֵפָה (’asefah, “a gathering”) as dittographic or as a gloss, but sound repetition is one of the main characteristics of the style of this section of the chapter.
[24:22] 51 tn Heb “and after a multitude of days.”
[24:22] 52 tn Heb “visited” (so KJV, ASV). This verse can mean to visit for good or for evil. The translation assumes the latter, based on v. 21a. However, BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד B.Niph.2 suggests the meaning “visit graciously” here, in which case one might translate “they will be released.”
[24:23] 53 tn Heb “will be ashamed.”
[24:23] 54 tn Or “glow of the sun.”
[24:23] 55 tn Heb “will be ashamed” (so NCV).
[24:23] 56 tn Or “take his throne,” “become king.”
[24:23] 57 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[24:23] 58 tn Heb “and before his elders [in] splendor.”
[25:1] 59 sn The prophet speaks here as one who has observed the coming judgment of the proud.
[25:1] 60 tn Heb “name.” See the note at 24:15.
[25:1] 61 tn Heb “plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness.” The feminine noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness”) and masculine noun אֹמֶן (’omen, “trustworthiness”), both of which are derived from the root אָמַן (’aman), are juxtaposed to emphasize the basic idea conveyed by the synonyms. Here they describe the absolute reliability of the divine plans.
[25:2] 62 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[25:2] 63 tn The Hebrew text has “you have made from the city.” The prefixed mem (מ) on עִיר (’ir, “city”) was probably originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:456, n. 3.
[25:2] 64 tc Some with support from the LXX emend זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) to זֵדִים (zedim, “the insolent”).
[25:3] 65 tn The Hebrew text has a singular form, but it should be emended to a plural or eliminated altogether. The noun may have been accidentally copied from the preceding verse.
[25:4] 66 tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”
[25:4] 67 tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion.
[25:5] 68 tn Or “drought” (TEV).
[25:5] 69 tn Heb “the tumult of foreigners.”
[25:5] 70 tn Heb “[like] heat in the shadow of a cloud.”
[25:5] 71 tn The translation assumes that the verb יַעֲנֶה (ya’aneh) is a Hiphil imperfect from עָנָה (’anah, “be afflicted, humiliated”). In this context with “song” as object it means to “quiet” (see HALOT 853-54 s.v. II ענה). Some prefer to emend the form to the second person singular, so that it will agree with the second person verb earlier in the verse. BDB 776 s.v. III עָנָה Qal.1 understands the form as Qal, with “song” as subject, in which case one might translate “the song of tyrants will be silent.” An emendation of the form to a Niphal (יֵעָנֶה, ye’aneh) would yield the same translation.
[25:6] 72 sn That is, Mount Zion (see 24:23); cf. TEV; NLT “In Jerusalem.”
[25:6] 73 tn Heb “And the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will make for all the nations on this mountain a banquet of meats, a banquet of wine dregs, meats filled with marrow, dregs that are filtered.”
[25:7] 74 tn The Hebrew text reads, “the face of the shroud, the shroud over all the nations.” Some emend the second הַלּוֹט (hallot) to a passive participle הַלּוּט (hallut, “that is wrapped”).
[25:7] 75 sn The point of the imagery is unclear. Perhaps the shroud/covering referred to was associated with death in some way (see v. 8).
[25:8] 76 sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.
[25:8] 77 tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[25:9] 78 tn Heb “and one will say in that day.”
[25:9] 79 tn Heb “this [one].”
[25:9] 80 tn Heb “this [one].”
[25:10] 81 tn Heb “for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain”; TEV “will protect Mount Zion”; NCV “will protect (rest on NLT) Jerusalem.”
[25:10] 82 tn Heb “under him,” i.e., “in his place.”
[25:10] 83 tc The marginal reading (Qere) is בְּמוֹ (bÿmo, “in”). The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּמִי (bÿmi, “in the water of”).
[25:11] 84 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:11] 85 tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is probably the masculine noun מַתְבֵּן (matben, “heap of straw”) in v. 10 rather than the feminine noun מַדְמֵנָה (madmenah, “manure pile”), also in v. 10.
[25:11] 86 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:11] 87 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:11] 88 tn The Hebrew text has, “he will bring down his pride along with the [?] of his hands.” The meaning of אָרְבּוֹת (’arbot), which occurs only here in the OT, is unknown. Some (see BDB 70 s.v. אָרְבָּה) translate “artifice, cleverness,” relating the form to the verbal root אָרָב (’arav, “to lie in wait, ambush”), but this requires some convoluted semantic reasoning. HALOT 83 s.v. *אָרְבָּה suggests the meaning “[nimble] movements.” The translation above, which attempts to relate the form to the preceding context, is purely speculative.
[25:12] 89 sn Moab is addressed.
[25:12] 90 tn Heb “a fortification, the high point of your walls.”
[25:12] 91 tn Heb “he will bring [it] down, he will make [it] touch the ground, even to the dust.”
[26:1] 92 tn Heb “In that day” (so KJV).
[26:1] 93 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:1] 94 tn Heb “deliverance he makes walls and a rampart.”
[26:3] 95 tn Heb “[one of] firm purpose you will keep [in] peace, peace, for in you he possesses trust.” The Hebrew term יֵצֶר (yetser) refers to what one devises in the mind; סָמוּךְ (samukh) probably functions here like an attributive adjective and carries the nuance “firm.” So the phrase literally means, “a firm purpose,” but as the object of the verb “keep, guard,” it must stand by metonymy for the one(s) who possess a firm purpose. In this context the “righteous nation” (v. 2) is probably in view and the “firm purpose” refers to their unwavering faith in God’s vindication (see 25:9). In this context שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”), which is repeated for emphasis, likely refers to national security, not emotional or psychological composure (see vv. 1-2). The passive participle בָּטוּחַ (batuakh) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action.
[26:4] 96 tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (’ade-’ad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.
[26:4] 97 tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki yÿhvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsaa) confirms the MT reading as well.
[26:5] 98 tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[26:5] 99 tn The translation assumes that יַשְׁפִּילֶנָּה (yashpilennah) goes with the preceding words “an elevated town,” and that יַשְׁפִּילָהּ (yashpilah) belongs with the following words, “to the ground.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:469, n. 7.
[26:7] 100 sn The literary structure of chap. 26 is not entirely clear. The chapter begins with an eschatological song of praise and ends with a lament and prophetic response (vv. 16-21). It is not certain where the song of praise ends or how vv. 7-15 fit into the structure. Verses 10-11a seem to lament the presence of evil and v. 11b anticipates the arrival of judgment, so it is possible that vv. 7-15 are a prelude to the lament and announcement that conclude the chapter.
[26:7] 101 tc The Hebrew text has, “upright, the path of the righteous you make level.” There are three possible ways to translate this line. Some take יָשָׁר (yashar) as a divine title: “O Upright One” (cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). Others regard יָשָׁר as the result of dittography (מֵישָׁרִים יָשָׁר ַמעְגַּל, mesharim yashar ma’gal) and do not include it in the translation. Another possibility is to keep יָשָׁר and render the line as “the path of the righteous that you prepare is straight.”
[26:7] sn The metaphor of a level/smooth road/path may refer to their morally upright manner of life (see v. 8a), but verse 7b, which attributes the smooth path to the Lord, suggests that the Lord’s vindication and blessing may be the reality behind the metaphor here.
[26:8] 102 tn The Hebrew text has, “yes, the way of your judgments.” The translation assumes that “way” is related to the verb “we wait” as an adverbial accusative (“in the way of your judgments we wait”). מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ (mishpatekha, “your judgments”) could refer to the Lord’s commandments, in which case one might translate, “as we obey your commands.” However, in verse 9 the same form refers to divine acts of judgment on evildoers.
[26:8] 103 tn Heb “your name and your remembrance [is] the desire of [our?] being.”
[26:9] 104 tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).
[26:9] 105 tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).
[26:9] 106 tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).
[26:10] 107 tn As in verse 9b, the translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “they do not learn to live in a righteous manner.”
[26:10] 108 tn Heb “in a land of uprightness they act unjustly”; NRSV “they deal perversely.”
[26:11] 109 tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”
[26:11] 110 tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”
[26:11] 111 tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”
[26:12] 112 tn Heb “O Lord, you establish peace for us.”
[26:12] 113 tc Some suggest emending גַּם כָּל (gam kol, “even all”) to כִּגְמֻל (kigmul, “according to the deed[s] of”) One might then translate “for according to what our deeds deserve, you have acted on our behalf.” Nevertheless, accepting the MT as it stands, the prophet affirms that Yahweh deserved all the credit for anything Israel had accomplished.
[26:14] 114 sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.
[26:14] 115 tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.
[26:14] 116 tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”
[26:15] 117 tn Heb “you have added to the nation.” The last line of the verse suggests that geographical expansion is in view. “The nation” is Judah.
[26:15] 118 tn Or “brought honor to yourself.”
[26:16] 119 tn The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and BDB 823 s.v.) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.
[26:18] 120 tn On the use of כְּמוֹ (kÿmo, “like, as”) here, see BDB 455 s.v. Israel’s distress and suffering, likened here to the pains of childbirth, seemed to be for no purpose. A woman in labor endures pain with the hope that a child will be born; in Israel’s case no such positive outcome was apparent. The nation was like a woman who strains to bring forth a child, but can’t push the baby through to daylight. All her effort produces nothing.
[26:18] 121 tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the world do not fall.” The term נָפַל (nafal) apparently means here, “be born,” though the Qal form of the verb is not used with this nuance anywhere else in the OT. (The Hiphil appears to be used in the sense of “give birth” in v. 19, however.) The implication of verse 18b seems to be that Israel hoped its suffering would somehow end in deliverance and an increase in population. The phrase “inhabitants of the world” seems to refer to the human race in general, but the next verse, which focuses on Israel’s dead, suggests the referent may be more limited.
[26:19] 122 sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.
[26:19] 123 tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[26:19] 124 tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.
[26:19] 125 sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).
[26:20] 126 tn Heb “until anger passes by.”
[26:21] 127 tn Heb “out of his place” (so KJV, ASV).
[26:21] 128 sn This implies that rampant bloodshed is one of the reasons for divine judgment. See the note at 24:5.
[27:1] 129 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).
[27:1] 130 tn Heb “hard, severe”; cf. NAB, NRSV “cruel”; KJV “sore”; NLT “terrible.”
[27:1] 131 tn Heb “fleeing” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Some translate “slippery” or “slithering.”
[27:1] 132 tn The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon (Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַנִּין [tannin, translated “sea monster” here]) vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling (Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן [’aqallaton, translated “squirming” here]) serpent, the tyrant with seven heads (cf. Ps 74:14).” (See CTA 3 iii 38-39.) (2) “for all that you smote Leviathan the slippery (Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ [bariakh, translated “fast-moving” here]) serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5 i 1-3.)
[27:1] sn In the Ugaritic mythological texts Leviathan is a sea creature that symbolizes the destructive water of the sea and in turn the forces of chaos that threaten the established order. Isaiah here applies imagery from Canaanite mythology to Yahweh’s eschatological victory over his enemies. Elsewhere in the OT, the battle with the sea motif is applied to Yahweh’s victories over the forces of chaos at creation and in history (cf. Pss 74:13-14; 77:16-20; 89:9-10; Isa 51:9-10). Yahweh’s subjugation of the chaos waters is related to His kingship (cf. Pss 29:3, 10; 93:3-4). Apocalyptic literature employs the imagery as well. The beasts of Dan 7 emerge from the sea, while Rev 13 speaks of a seven-headed beast coming from the sea.
[27:2] 133 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).
[27:2] 134 tn Heb “vineyard of delight,” or “vineyard of beauty.” Many medieval
[27:3] 135 tn Heb “her.” Apparently “vineyard” is the antecedent, though normally this noun is understood as masculine (see Lev 25:3, however).
[27:3] 136 tn Or perhaps, “constantly.” Heb “by moments.”
[27:3] 137 tn Heb “lest [someone] visit [harm] upon it, night and day I guard it.”
[27:4] 138 tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense. For other examples of a cohortative expressing resolve after a hypothetical statement introduced by נָתַן with מִי (miwith natan), see Judg 9:29; Jer 9:1-2; Ps 55:6.
[27:4] 139 tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense.
[27:5] 140 tn Heb “or let him take hold of my refuge.” The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is uncertain. Apparently the symbolic “thorns and briers” are in view, though in v. 4b a feminine singular pronoun was used to refer to them.
[27:5] 141 tc The Hebrew text has, “he makes peace with me, peace he makes with me.” Some contend that two alternative readings are preserved here and one should be deleted. The first has the object שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) preceding the verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “make”); the second reverses the order. Another option is to retain both statements, although repetitive, to emphasize the need to make peace with Yahweh.
[27:6] 142 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “the coming ones, let Jacob take root.” הַבָּאִים (habba’im, “the coming ones”) should probably be emended to יָמִים בָאִים (yamim va’im, “days [are] coming”) or בְּיָמִים הַבָּאִים (biyamim habba’im, “in the coming days”).
[27:6] 143 tn Heb “fruit” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[27:6] 144 sn This apparently refers to a future population explosion. See 26:18.
[27:7] 145 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Like the striking down of the one striking him down does he strike him down?” The meaning of the text is unclear, but this may be a rhetorical question, suggesting that Israel has not experienced divine judgment to the same degree as her oppressors. In this case “the one striking down” refers to Israel’s oppressors, while the pronoun “him” refers to Israel. The subject of the final verb (“does he strike down”) would then be God, while the pronoun “him” would again refer to Israel.
[27:7] 146 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Or like the killing of his killed ones is he killed?” If one accepts the interpretation of the parallel line outlined in the previous note, then this line too would contain a rhetorical question suggesting that Israel has not experienced destruction to the same degree as its enemies. In this case “his killed ones” refers to the one who struck Israel down, and Israel would be the subject of the final verb (“is he killed”).
[27:8] 147 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “in [?], in sending her away, you oppose her.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The form בְּסַאסְּאָה (bÿsa’ssÿ’ah) is taken as an infinitive from סַאסְּאָה (sa’ssÿ’ah) with a prepositional prefix and a third feminine singular suffix. (The MT does not have a mappiq in the final he [ה], however). According to HALOT 738 s.v. סַאסְּאָה the verb is a Palpel form from an otherwise unattested root cognate with an Arabic verb meaning “to gather beasts with a call.” Perhaps it means “to call, summon” here, but this is a very tentative proposal. בְּשַׁלְחָהּ (bÿshalkhah, “in sending her away”) appears to be a Piel infinitive with a prepositional prefix and a third feminine singular suffix. Since the Piel of שָׁלָח (shalakh) can sometimes mean “divorce” (HALOT 1514-15 s.v.) and the following verb רִיב (riv, “oppose”) can be used in legal contexts, it is possible that divorce proceedings are alluded to here. This may explain why Israel is referred to as feminine in this verse, in contrast to the masculine forms used in vv. 6-7 and 9.
[27:8] 148 tn The Hebrew text has no object expressed, but one can understand a third feminine singular pronominal object and place a mappiq in the final he (ה) of the form to indicate the suffix.
[27:8] 149 sn The “east wind” here symbolizes violent divine judgment.
[27:9] 150 tn Or “be atoned for” (NIV); cf. NRSV “be expiated.”
[27:9] 151 tn Heb “and this [is] all the fruit of removing his sin.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear, though “removing his sin” certainly parallels “Jacob’s sin will be removed” in the preceding line. If original, “all the fruit” may refer to the result of the decision to remove sin, but the phrase may be a corruption of לְכַפֵּר (lekhaper, “to atone for”), which in turn might be a gloss on הָסִר (hasir, “removing”).
[27:9] 152 tn Heb “when he makes the stones of an altar.” The singular “altar” is collective here; pagan altars are in view, as the last line of the verse indicates. See also 17:8.
[27:9] 153 sn As interpreted and translated above, this verse says that Israel must totally repudiate its pagan religious practices in order to experience God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another option is to understand “in this way” and “this” in v. 9a as referring back to the judgment described in v. 8. In this case כָּפַר (kafar, “atone for”) is used in a sarcastic sense; Jacob’s sin is “atoned for” and removed through severe judgment. Following this line of interpretation, one might paraphrase the verse as follows: “So in this way (through judgment) Jacob’s sin will be “atoned for,” and this is the way his sin will be removed, when he (i.e., God) makes all the altar stones like crushed limestone….” This interpretation is more consistent with the tone of judgment in vv. 8 and 10-11.
[27:10] 154 sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.
[27:10] 155 tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.
[27:10] 156 tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.
[27:11] 157 tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[27:11] 158 tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.
[27:11] 159 tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”
[27:12] 160 tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[27:12] 161 tn Heb “the Lord will beat out.” The verb is used of beating seeds or grain to separate the husk from the kernel (see Judg 6:11; Ruth 2:17; Isa 28:27), and of beating the olives off the olive tree (Deut 24:20). The latter metaphor may be in view here, where a tree metaphor has been employed in the preceding verses. See also 17:6.
[27:12] 162 tn Heb “the river,” a frequent designation in the OT for the Euphrates. For clarity most modern English versions substitute the name “Euphrates” for “the river” here.
[27:12] 163 sn The Israelites will be freed from exile (likened to beating the olives off the tree) and then gathered (likened to collecting the olives).
[27:13] 164 tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[27:13] 165 tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”
[27:13] 166 tn Or “the ones perishing.”
[27:13] 167 tn Or “the ones driven into.”
[27:13] 168 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[28:1] 169 tn Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7.
[28:1] 170 tn Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.
[28:1] 171 tn Heb “which [is].”
[28:1] 172 tn Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן (halume yayin, “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם (shikkore ’efrayim, “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.
[28:2] 173 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[28:2] 174 tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”
[28:2] 175 tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”
[28:2] 176 tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”
[28:2] 177 tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.
[28:2] 178 tn Or “by [his] power.”
[28:4] 179 tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”
[28:5] 180 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
[28:6] 181 tn Heb “and [he will become] a spirit of justice for the one who sits [i.e., presides] over judgment, // and strength [for] the ones who turn back battle at the city gate.” The Lord will provide internal stability and national security.
[28:7] 182 tn Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.
[28:7] 183 tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.
[28:7] 184 tn Heb “in the seeing.”
[28:7] 185 tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”
[28:8] 186 tn Heb “vomit, without a place.” For the meaning of the phrase בְּלִי מָקוֹם (bÿli maqom, “without a place”), see HALOT 133 s.v. בְּלִי.
[28:9] 187 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:9] 188 tn Heb “Who is he teaching knowledge? For whom is he explaining a message?” The translation assumes that the Lord is the subject of the verbs “teaching” and “explaining,” and that the prophet is asking the questions. See v. 12. According to some vv. 9-10 record the people’s sarcastic response to the Lord’s message through Isaiah.
[28:9] 189 tn Heb “from the breasts.” The words “their mother’s” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The translation assumes that this is the prophet’s answer to the questions asked in the first half of the verse. The Lord is trying to instruct people who are “infants” morally and ethically.
[28:10] 190 tn The meaning of this verse has been debated. The text has literally “indeed [or “for”] a little there, a little there” ( כִּי צַו לָצָו צַו לָצָו קַו לָקָו קַו, ki tsav latsav, tsav latsav, qav laqav, qav laqav). The present translation assumes that the repetitive syllables are gibberish that resembles baby talk (cf v. 9b) and mimics what the people will hear when foreign invaders conquer the land (v. 11). In this case זְעֵיר (zÿ’er, “a little”) refers to the short syllabic structure of the babbling (cf. CEV). Some take צַו (tsav) as a derivative of צָוָה (tsavah, “command”) and translate the first part of the statement as “command after command, command after command.” Proponents of this position (followed by many English versions) also take קַו (qav) as a noun meaning “measuring line” (see v. 17), understood here in the abstract sense of “standard” or “rule.”
[28:11] 191 sn This verse alludes to the coming Assyrian invasion, when the people will hear a foreign language that sounds like gibberish to them. The Lord is the subject of the verb “will speak,” as v. 12 makes clear. He once spoke in meaningful terms, but in the coming judgment he will speak to them, as it were, through the mouth of foreign oppressors. The apparent gibberish they hear will be an outward reminder that God has decreed their defeat.
[28:12] 192 tn Heb “who said to them.”
[28:12] 193 sn This message encapsulates the Lord’s invitation to his people to find security in his protection and blessing.
[28:13] 194 tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.
[28:13] 195 tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.
[28:13] 196 sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.
[28:14] 197 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[28:15] 198 sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.
[28:15] 199 tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.
[28:15] 200 tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).
[28:15] 201 sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.
[28:16] 202 tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.
[28:16] 203 tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.
[28:16] 204 sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).
[28:16] 205 tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.
[28:17] 206 tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.
[28:18] 207 tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.
[28:18] 208 tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.
[28:18] 209 tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).
[28:18] 210 tn See the note at v. 15.
[28:18] 211 tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”
[28:19] 212 tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[28:19] 213 tn The words “it will come through” are supplied in the translation. The verb “will sweep by” does double duty in the parallel structure.
[28:20] 214 sn The bed and blanket probably symbolize their false sense of security. A bed that is too short and a blanket that is too narrow may promise rest and protection from the cold, but in the end they are useless and disappointing. In the same way, their supposed treaty with death will prove useless and disappointing.
[28:21] 215 sn This probably alludes to David’s victory over the Philistines at Baal Perazim. See 2 Sam 5:20.
[28:21] 216 sn This probably alludes to the Lord’s victory over the Canaanites at Gibeon, during the days of Joshua. See Josh 10:10-11.
[28:21] 217 sn God’s judgment of his own people is called “his peculiar work” and “his strange task,” because he must deal with them the way he treated their enemies in the past.
[28:22] 218 tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).
[28:23] 219 tn Heb “to my voice.”
[28:23] 220 tn Heb “to my word”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “hear my speech.”
[28:24] 221 tn Heb “All the day does the plowman plow in order to plant?” The phrase “all the day” here has the sense of “continually, always.” See BDB 400 s.v. יוֹם.
[28:25] 222 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “place wheat [?], and barley [?], and grain in its territory.” The term שׂוֹרָה (shorah) is sometimes translated “[in] its place,” but the word is unattested elsewhere. It is probably due to dittography of the immediately following שְׂעֹרָה (sÿo’rah, “barley”). The meaning of נִסְמָן (nisman) is also uncertain. It may be due to dittography of the immediately following כֻסֶּמֶת (kussemet, “grain”).
[28:26] 223 tn Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”
[28:27] 224 tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB).
[28:27] 225 sn Both of these seeds are too small to use the ordinary threshing techniques.
[28:29] 226 sn Verses 23-29 emphasize that God possesses great wisdom and has established a natural order. Evidence of this can be seen in the way farmers utilize divinely imparted wisdom to grow and harvest crops. God’s dealings with his people will exhibit this same kind of wisdom and order. Judgment will be accomplished according to a divinely ordered timetable and, while severe enough, will not be excessive. Judgment must come, just as planting inevitably follows plowing. God will, as it were, thresh his people, but he will not crush them to the point where they will be of no use to him.
[29:1] 227 tn Heb “Woe [to] Ariel.” The meaning of the name “Ariel” is uncertain. The name may mean “altar hearth” (see v. 2) or, if compound, “lion of God.” The name is used here as a title for Mount Zion/Jerusalem (see v. 8).
[29:1] 228 tn Heb “the town where David camped.” The verb חָנָה (khanah, “camp”) probably has the nuance “lay siege to” here. See v. 3. Another option is to take the verb in the sense of “lived, settled.”
[29:1] 229 tn Heb “Add year to year, let your festivals occur in cycles.” This is probably a sarcastic exhortation to the people to keep up their religious rituals, which will not prevent the coming judgment. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:527.
[29:2] 230 tn The term אֲרִיאֵל (’ari’el, “Ariel”) is the word translated “altar hearth” here. The point of the simile is not entirely clear. Perhaps the image likens Jerusalem’s coming crisis to a sacrificial fire.
[29:3] 231 tc The Hebrew text has כַדּוּר (khadur, “like a circle”), i.e., “like an encircling wall.” Some emend this phrase to כְּדָוִד (kÿdavid, “like David”), which is supported by the LXX (see v. 1). However, the rendering in the LXX could have arisen from a confusion of the dalet (ד) and resh (ר).
[29:3] 232 tn The meaning of מֻצָּב (mutsav) is not certain. Because of the parallelism (note “siege works”), some translate “towers.” The noun is derived from נָצַב (natsav, “take one’s stand”) and may refer to the troops stationed outside the city to prevent entrance or departure.
[29:4] 233 tn Heb “from the ground” (so NIV, NCV).
[29:4] 234 tn Heb “and from the dust your word will be low.”
[29:4] 235 tn Heb “and your voice will be like a ritual pit from the earth.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19. Here the word is used metonymically for the voice that emerges from such a pit.
[29:4] 236 tn Heb “and from the dust your word will chirp.” The words “as if muttering an incantation” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the parallelism and 8:19.
[29:5] 237 tn Or “violent men”; cf. NASB “the ruthless ones.”
[29:6] 238 tn Heb “from the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] there will be visitation.” The third feminine singular passive verb form תִּפָּקֵד (tippaqed, “she/it will be visited”) is used here in an impersonal sense. See GKC 459 §144.b.
[29:8] 239 tn Or “that he [or “his appetite”] is unsatisfied.”
[29:8] 240 tn Or “that he is faint and that he [or “his appetite”] longs [for water].”
[29:9] 241 tn The form הִתְמַהְמְהוּ (hitmahmÿhu) is a Hitpalpel imperative from מָהַהּ (mahah, “hesitate”). If it is retained, one might translate “halt and be amazed.” The translation assumes an emendation to הִתַּמְּהוּ (hittammÿhu), a Hitpael imperative from תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). In this case, the text, like Hab 1:5, combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of תָּמַה (tamah). A literal translation might be “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sound draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572 §34.4c.
[29:9] 242 tn Heb “Blind yourselves and be blind!” The Hitpalpel and Qal imperatival forms of שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blind”) are combined to draw attention to the statement. The imperatives have the force of an emphatic assertion.
[29:9] 243 tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.
[29:9] 244 tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.
[29:10] 245 tn Heb “a disposition [or “spirit”] of deep sleep.” Through this mixed metaphor (sleep is likened to a liquid which one pours and in turn symbolizes spiritual dullness) the prophet emphasizes that God himself has given the people over to their spiritual insensitivity as a form of judgment.
[29:11] 246 tn Heb “vision” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[29:11] 247 tn Heb “one who knows a/the scroll.”
[29:12] 248 tn Heb “and if the scroll is handed to one who does not know a scroll.”
[29:12] 249 tn Heb “I do not know a scroll.”
[29:13] 250 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).
[29:13] 251 tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”
[29:13] 252 tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”
[29:13] 253 tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.
[29:13] 254 tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”
[29:14] 255 tn Heb “Therefore I will again do something amazing with these people, an amazing deed, an amazing thing.” This probably refers to the amazing transformation predicted in vv. 17-24, which will follow the purifying judgment implied in vv. 15-16.
[29:14] 256 tn Heb “the wisdom of their wise ones will perish, the discernment of their discerning ones will keep hidden.”
[29:15] 257 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.
[29:15] 258 tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”
[29:15] 259 tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.
[29:16] 260 tn Heb “your overturning.” The predicate is suppressed in this exclamation. The idea is, “O your perversity! How great it is!” See GKC 470 §147.c. The people “overturn” all logic by thinking their authority supersedes God’s.
[29:16] 261 tn The expected answer to this rhetorical question is “of course not.” On the interrogative use of אִם (’im), see BDB 50 s.v.
[29:16] 262 tn Heb “that the thing made should say.”
[29:17] 263 tn The Hebrew text phrases this as a rhetorical question, “Is it not yet a little, a short [time]?”
[29:17] 264 sn The meaning of this verse is debated, but it seems to depict a reversal in fortunes. The mighty forest of Lebanon (symbolic of the proud and powerful, see 2:13; 10:34) will be changed into a common orchard, while the common orchard (symbolic of the oppressed and lowly) will grow into a great forest. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:538.
[29:18] 265 tn Or “In that day” (KJV).
[29:18] 266 tn Heb “and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”
[29:18] sn Perhaps this depicts the spiritual transformation of the once spiritually insensitive nation (see vv. 10-12, cf. also 6:9-10).
[29:19] 267 tn Or “will rejoice” (NIV, NCV, NLT).
[29:19] 268 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[29:20] 269 tn Heb “and all the watchers of wrong will be cut off.”
[29:21] 270 tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”
[29:21] 271 sn Legal disputes were resolved at the city gate, where the town elders met. See Amos 5:10.
[29:21] 272 tn Heb “and deprive by emptiness the innocent.”
[29:22] 273 tn Heb “So this is what the Lord says to the house of Jacob, the one who ransomed Abraham.” The relative pronoun must refer back to “the Lord,” not to the immediately preceding “Jacob.” It is uncertain to what event in Abraham’s experience this refers. Perhaps the name “Abraham” stands here by metonymy for his descendants through Jacob. If so, the Exodus is in view.
[29:22] 274 tn Heb “and his face will no longer be pale.”
[29:23] 275 tn Heb “for when he sees his children, the work of my hands in his midst.”
[29:23] 276 tn Or “treat as holy” (also in the following line); NASB, NRSV “will sanctify.”
[29:23] 277 sn Holy One of Jacob is similar to the phrase “Holy One of Israel” common throughout Isaiah; see the sn at Isa 1:4.
[29:23] 278 tn Or “fear,” in the sense of “stand in awe of.”
[29:24] 279 tn Heb “and the ones who stray in spirit will know understanding.”
[29:24] 280 tn Heb “will learn instruction”; cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “will accept instruction.”
[30:1] 281 tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”
[30:1] 282 tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”
[30:1] 283 tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”
[30:1] 284 tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.
[30:1] 285 tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”
[30:2] 286 tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”
[30:2] 287 tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”
[30:4] 288 sn This probably refers to Judah’s officials and messengers.
[30:4] 289 sn Zoan was located in the Egyptian delta in the north; Hanes was located somewhere in southern region of lower Egypt, south of Memphis; the exact location is debated.
[30:5] 290 tn The present translation follows the marginal (Qere) reading of the Hebrew text; the consonantal text (Kethib) has “made to stink, decay.”
[30:6] 291 tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”
[30:6] 292 tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.
[30:6] 293 tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.
[30:6] 294 tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[30:6] 295 sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.
[30:7] 296 tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”
[30:7] 297 tn Heb “Rahab” (רַהַב, rahav), which also appears as a name for Egypt in Ps 87:4. The epithet is also used in the OT for a mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos. See the note at 51:9. A number of English versions use the name “Rahab” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) while others attempt some sort of translation (cf. CEV “a helpless monster”; TEV, NLT “the Harmless Dragon”).
[30:7] 298 tn The MT reads “Rahab, they, sitting.” The translation above assumes an emendation of הֵם שָׁבֶת (hem shavet) to הַמָּשְׁבָּת (hammashbat), a Hophal participle with prefixed definite article, meaning “the one who is made to cease,” i.e., “destroyed,” or “silenced.” See HALOT 444-45 s.v. ישׁב.
[30:8] 299 tn The referent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix is uncertain. Perhaps it refers to the preceding message, which accuses the people of rejecting the Lord’s help in favor of an alliance with Egypt.
[30:8] 300 tn Heb “with them.” On the use of the preposition here, see BDB 86 s.v. II אֵת.
[30:8] 301 sn Recording the message will enable the prophet to use it in the future as evidence that God warned his people of impending judgment and clearly spelled out the nation’s guilt. An official record of the message will also serve as proof of the prophet’s authority as God’s spokesman.
[30:9] 302 tn Or perhaps, “instruction” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV, TEV “teachings.”
[30:10] 303 tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[30:10] 304 tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”
[30:10] 305 tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”
[30:11] 306 sn The imagery refers to the way or path of truth, as revealed by God to the prophet.
[30:11] 307 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[30:12] 308 tn The sentence actually begins with the word “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.
[30:12] 309 tn Heb “and you trust in oppression and cunning.”
[30:12] 310 tn Heb “and you lean on it”; NAB “and depend on it.”
[30:13] 311 tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.
[30:14] 312 tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”
[30:14] 313 tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[30:14] 314 tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”
[30:14] 315 tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.
[30:15] 316 tn Heb “in returning and in quietness you will be delivered.” Many English versions render the last phrase “shall be saved” or something similar (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[30:15] 317 tn Heb “in quietness and in trust is your strength” (NASB and NRSV both similar).
[30:17] 318 tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.
[30:17] 319 tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.
[30:17] 320 tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[30:18] 321 tn Heb “Therefore the Lord waits to show you mercy, and therefore he is exalted to have compassion on you.” The logical connection between this verse and what precedes is problematic. The point seems to be that Judah’s impending doom does not bring God joy. Rather the prospect of their suffering stirs within him a willingness to show mercy and compassion, if they are willing to seek him on his terms.
[30:18] 322 tn Heb “Blessed are all who wait for him.”
[30:19] 323 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[30:19] 324 tn Heb “For people in Zion will live, in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.” The phrase “in Jerusalem” could be taken with what precedes. Some prefer to emend יֵשֵׁב (yeshev, “will live,” a Qal imperfect) to יֹשֵׁב (yoshev, a Qal active participle) and translate “For [you] people in Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.”
[30:19] 325 tn Heb “he will indeed show you mercy at the sound of your crying out; when he hears, he will answer you.”
[30:20] 326 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).
[30:20] 327 tn Heb “and the Master will give to you bread – distress, and water – oppression.”
[30:20] 328 tn Heb “but your teachers will no longer be hidden, your eyes will be seeing your teachers.” The translation assumes that the form מוֹרֶיךָ (morekha) is a plural participle, referring to spiritual leaders such as prophets and priests. Another possibility is that the form is actually singular (see GKC 273-74 §93.ss) or a plural of respect, referring to God as the master teacher. See HALOT 560-61 s.v. III מוֹרֶה. For discussion of the views, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:560.
[30:21] 329 tn Heb “your ears” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[30:21] 330 tn The word “correct’ is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[30:22] 331 tn Heb “the platings of your silver idols.”
[30:22] 332 tn Heb “the covering of your gold image.”
[30:23] 333 tn Heb “and he will give rain for your seed which you plant in the ground, and food [will be] the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and abundant.”
[30:23] 334 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
[30:24] 335 tn Heb “the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground.”
[30:24] 336 sn Crops will be so abundant that even the work animals will eat well.
[30:25] 337 tn Or “in the day of” (KJV).
[30:26] 338 sn Light here symbolizes restoration of divine blessing and prosperity. The number “seven” is used symbolically to indicate intensity. The exact meaning of the phrase “the light of seven days” is uncertain; it probably means “seven times brighter” (see the parallel line).
[30:26] 339 tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB).
[30:26] sn The Lord is here compared to a physician setting a broken bone in a bandage or cast.
[30:26] 340 tn Heb “the injury of his wound.” The joining of synonyms emphasizes the severity of the wound. Another option is to translate, “the wound of his blow.” In this case the pronominal suffix might refer to the Lord, not the people, yielding the translation, “the wound which he inflicted.”
[30:27] 341 sn The “name” of the Lord sometimes stands by metonymy for the Lord himself, see Exod 23:21; Lev 24:11; Pss 54:1 (54:3 HT); 124:8. In Isa 30:27 the point is that he reveals that aspect of his character which his name suggests – he comes as Yahweh (“he is present”), the ever present helper of his people who annihilates their enemies and delivers them. The name “Yahweh” originated in a context where God assured a fearful Moses that he would be with him as he confronted Pharaoh and delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. See Exod 3.
[30:27] 342 tn Heb “his anger burns, and heaviness of elevation.” The meaning of the phrase “heaviness of elevation” is unclear, for מַשָּׂאָה (masa’ah, “elevation”) occurs only here. Some understand the term as referring to a cloud (elevated above the earth’s surface), in which case one might translate, “and in heavy clouds” (cf. NAB “with lowering clouds”). Others relate the noun to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”) and interpret it as a reference to judgment. In this case one might translate, “and with severe judgment.” The present translation assumes that the noun refers to his glory and that “heaviness” emphasizes its degree.
[30:27] 343 tn Heb “his lips are full of anger, and his tongue is like consuming fire.” The Lord’s lips and tongue are used metonymically for his word (or perhaps his battle cry; see v. 31).
[30:28] 344 tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.
[30:28] 345 tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.
[30:28] 346 tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.
[30:29] 347 tn Heb “[you will have] joy of heart, like the one going with a flute to enter the mountain of the Lord to the Rock of Israel.” The image here is not a foundational rock, but a rocky cliff where people could hide for protection (for example, the fortress of Masada).
[30:30] 348 tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”
[30:30] 349 tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”
[30:30] 350 tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”
[30:31] 351 tn Heb “Indeed by the voice of the Lord Assyria will be shattered.”
[30:32] 352 tc The Hebrew text has “every blow from a founded [i.e., “appointed”?] cudgel.” The translation above, with support from a few medieval Hebrew
[30:32] 353 tn Heb “which the Lord lays on him.”
[30:32] 354 tn Heb “will be with” (KJV similar).
[30:32] 355 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and with battles of brandishing [weapons?] he will fight against him.” Some prefer to emend וּבְמִלְחֲמוֹת (uvÿmilkhamot, “and with battles of”) to וּבִמְחֹלוֹת (uvimkholot, “and with dancing”). Note the immediately preceding references to musical instruments.
[30:33] 357 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).
[30:33] 358 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”
[30:33] 359 tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”
[30:33] sn Apparently this alludes to some type of funeral rite.
[31:1] 360 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”
[31:1] 361 tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”
[31:1] 362 tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”
[31:1] 363 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[31:2] 364 sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
[31:2] 365 tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”
[31:2] 366 tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”
[31:2] 368 tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”
[31:3] 369 tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”
[31:3] 370 tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”
[31:4] 371 tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.
[31:4] 372 tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”
[31:4] 373 tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.
[31:5] 374 tn Heb “just as birds fly.” The words “over a nest” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[31:5] 375 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[31:5] 376 tn The only other occurrence of this verb is in Exod 12:13, 23, 27, where the Lord “passes over” (i.e., “spares”) the Israelite households as he comes to judge their Egyptian oppressors. The noun פֶּסַח (pesakh, “Passover”) is derived from the verb. The use of the verb in Isa 31:5 is probably an intentional echo of the Exodus event. As in the days of Moses the Lord will spare his people as he comes to judge their enemies.
[31:6] 377 tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p.
[31:7] 378 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
[31:7] 379 tn Heb “reject” (so NIV); NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT “throw away.”
[31:7] 380 tn Heb “the idols of their idols of silver and their idols of gold which your hands made for yourselves [in] sin.” חָטָא (khata’, “sin”) is understood as an adverbial accusative of manner. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:573, n. 4.
[31:8] 381 tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”
[31:8] 382 tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”
[31:8] 383 tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”
[31:9] 384 tn Heb “rocky cliff” (cf. ASV, NASB “rock”), viewed metaphorically as a place of defense and security.
[31:9] 385 tn Heb “His rocky cliff, because of fear, will pass away [i.e., “perish”].”
[31:9] 386 tn Heb “and they will be afraid of the flag, his officers.”
[31:9] 387 sn The “fire” and “firepot” here symbolize divine judgment, which is heating up like a fire in Jerusalem, waiting to be used against the Assyrians when they attack the city.
[32:1] 388 tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”
[32:1] 389 tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”
[32:2] 390 tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.
[32:3] 391 tn Heb “Eyes that see.”
[32:3] 392 tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (tÿsho’enah) from שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.
[32:3] 393 tn Heb “ears that hear.”
[32:4] 394 tn Heb “the heart of rashness will understand knowledge”; cf. NAB “The flighty will become wise and capable.”
[32:6] 395 tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.
[32:6] 396 tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”
[32:6] 397 tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”
[32:6] 398 tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”
[32:6] 399 tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”
[32:7] 400 tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”
[32:7] 401 tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”
[32:7] 402 tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”
[32:8] 403 tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”
[32:9] 404 tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”
[32:9] 405 tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”
[32:10] 406 tn Heb “days upon a year.”
[32:10] 407 tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.
[32:11] 408 tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khirdu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, sha’anannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, rÿgazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, pÿshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ’orah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khirdu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “aramaized” forms.
[32:12] 409 tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (sÿfodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).
[32:13] 410 tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.
[32:13] 411 tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.
[32:13] 412 sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.
[32:14] 413 tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).
[32:14] 414 tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.
[32:14] 415 tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.
[32:14] 416 tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”
[32:15] 417 tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (’arah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.
[32:15] 418 sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.
[32:16] 419 sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.
[32:17] 420 tn Heb “and the product of fairness will be peace.”
[32:17] 421 tn Heb “and the work of fairness [will be] calmness and security forever.”
[32:18] 422 tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”
[32:19] 423 tn Heb “and [?] when the forest descends.” The form וּבָרַד (uvarad) is often understood as an otherwise unattested denominative verb meaning “to hail” (HALOT 154 s.v. I ברד). In this case one might translate, “and it hails when the forest is destroyed” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV). Perhaps the text alludes to a powerful wind and hail storm that knocks down limbs and trees. Some prefer to emend the form to וְיָרַד (vÿyarad), “and it descends,” which provides better, though not perfect, symmetry with the parallel line (cf. NAB). Perhaps וּבָרַד should be dismissed as dittographic. In this case the statement (“when the forest descends”) lacks a finite verb and seems incomplete, but perhaps it is subordinate to v. 20.
[32:19] 424 tn Heb “and in humiliation the city is laid low.”
[32:20] 425 tn Heb “by all the waters.”
[32:20] 426 tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”
[32:20] sn This verse seems to anticipate a time when fertile land is available to cultivate and crops are so abundant that the farm animals can be allowed to graze freely.
[33:1] 427 tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”
[33:1] sn In this context “the destroyer” appears to refer collectively to the hostile nations (vv. 3-4). Assyria would probably have been primary in the minds of the prophet and his audience.
[33:1] 428 tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.
[33:1] 429 tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”
[33:2] 430 tn Heb “Be their arm each morning.” “Arm” is a symbol for strength. The mem suffixed to the noun has been traditionally understood as a third person suffix, but this is contrary to the context, where the people speak of themselves in the first person. The mem (מ) is probably enclitic with ellipsis of the pronoun, which can be supplied from the context. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:589, n. 1.
[33:2] 431 tn Heb “[Be] also our deliverance in the time of distress.”
[33:3] 432 tn Heb “at the sound of tumult the nations run away.”
[33:3] 433 tn Heb “because of your exaltation the nations scatter.”
[33:4] 434 tn The pronoun is plural; the statement is addressed to the nations who have stockpiled plunder from their conquests of others.
[33:4] 435 tn Heb “and your plunder is gathered, the gathering of the locust.”
[33:4] 436 tn Heb “like a swarm of locusts swarming on it.”
[33:5] 437 tn Or “elevated”; NCV, NLT “is very great.”
[33:5] 438 tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NIV).
[33:5] 439 tn Heb “on high” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “in the heavens.”
[33:6] 440 tn Heb “and he is the stability of your times.”
[33:6] 441 tn Heb “a rich store of deliverance, wisdom, and knowledge.”
[33:6] 442 tn Heb “the fear of the Lord, it is his treasure.”
[33:7] 443 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Proposals include “heroes” (cf. KJV, ASV “valiant ones”; NASB, NIV “brave men”); “priests,” “residents [of Jerusalem].” The present translation assumes that the term is synonymous with “messengers of peace,” with which it corresponds in the parallel structure of the verse.
[33:7] 444 tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).
[33:8] 445 tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”
[33:8] 446 tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”
[33:8] 447 tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”
[33:8] 448 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “he despises cities.” The term עָרִים (’arim, “cities”) is probably a corruption of an original עֵדִים (’edim, “[legal] witnesses”), a reading that is preserved in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.
[33:8] 449 tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”
[33:9] 450 tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”
[33:9] 451 tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. I אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism. See 24:4.
[33:9] 452 tn Heb “Lebanon is ashamed.” The Hiphil is exhibitive, expressing the idea, “exhibits shame.” In this context the statement alludes to the withering of vegetation.
[33:9] 453 sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.
[33:9] 454 tn Or “the Arabah” (NIV). See 35:1.
[33:9] 455 sn Both of these areas were known for their trees and vegetation. See 2:13; 35:2.
[33:9] 456 tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”
[33:10] 457 tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”
[33:11] 458 tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.
[33:11] 459 sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.
[33:12] 460 tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.
[33:14] 461 tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”
[33:14] 462 tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”
[33:14] 463 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[33:14] 464 tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[33:15] 465 tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).
[33:15] 466 tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”
[33:15] 467 tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”
[33:15] 468 tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”
[33:15] 469 tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”
[33:16] 470 tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”
[33:16] 471 tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”
[33:17] 472 tn Heb “your eyes will see a king in his beauty”; NIV, NRSV “the king.”
[33:17] 473 tn Heb “a land of distances,” i.e., an extensive land.
[33:18] 474 tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”
[33:18] 475 tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
[33:18] 476 sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.
[33:19] 477 tn The Hebrew form נוֹעָז (no’az) is a Niphal participle derived from יָעַז (ya’az, an otherwise unattested verb) or from עָזָז (’azaz, “be strong,” unattested elsewhere in the Niphal). Some prefer to emend the form to לוֹעֵז (lo’ez) which occurs in Ps 114:1 with the meaning “speak a foreign language.” See HALOT 809 s.v. עזז, 533 s.v. לעז. In this case, one might translate “people who speak a foreign language.”
[33:19] 478 tn Heb “a people too deep of lip to hear.” The phrase “deep of lip” must be an idiom meaning “lips that speak words that are unfathomable [i.e., incomprehensible].”
[33:19] 479 tn Heb “derision of tongue there is no understanding.” The Niphal of לָעַג (la’ag) occurs only here. In the Qal and Hiphil the verb means “to deride, mock.” A related noun is used in 28:11.
[33:20] 480 tn Heb “your eyes” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[33:20] 481 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[33:20] 482 tn Or “that does not travel”; NASB “which shall not be folded.”
[33:21] 483 tn Heb “But there [as] a mighty one [will be] the Lord for us.”
[33:21] 484 tn Heb “a place of rivers, streams wide of hands [i.e., on both sides].”
[33:21] 485 tn Heb “a ship of rowing will not go into it.”
[33:21] 486 tn Heb “and a mighty ship will not pass through it.”
[33:23] 487 tn The words “though at this time” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first half of the verse is addressed to Judah and contrasts the nation’s present weakness with its future prosperity. Judah is compared to a ship that is incapable of sailing.
[33:23] 488 tn Heb “they do not fasten the base of their mast.” On כֵּן (ken, “base”) see BDB 487 s.v. III כֵּן and HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן.
[33:23] 489 tn Or perhaps, “flag.”
[33:23] 490 tn Heb “then there will be divided up loot of plunder [in] abundance.”
[33:23] 491 sn Judah’s victory over its enemies will be so thorough there will be more than enough plunder for everyone, even slow-moving lame men who would normally get left out in the rush to gather the loot.
[33:24] 492 tn The words “of Zion” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[34:1] 493 tn Heb “the world and its offspring”; NASB “the world and all that springs from it.”
[34:3] 494 tn Heb “will be cast aside”; NASB, NIV “thrown out.”
[34:3] 495 tn Heb “[as for] their corpses, their stench will arise.”
[34:3] 496 tn Heb “hills will dissolve from their blood.”
[34:4] 497 tc Heb “and all the host of heaven will rot.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa inserts “and the valleys will be split open,” but this reading may be influenced by Mic 1:4. On the other hand, the statement, if original, could have been omitted by homoioarcton, a scribe’s eye jumping from the conjunction prefixed to “the valleys” to the conjunction prefixed to the verb “rot.”
[34:4] 498 tn Heb “like the withering of a leaf from a vine, and like the withering from a fig tree.”
[34:5] 499 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.
[34:5] 500 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”
[34:5] sn In v. 4 the “host of the heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13). As in 24:21, they are viewed here as opposing God and being defeated in battle.
[34:5] 501 sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.
[34:6] 502 tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.
[34:6] 503 tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:6] 504 tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:6] 505 tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”
[34:6] 506 sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.
[34:6] 507 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[34:7] 508 tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”
[34:7] 509 tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.
[34:8] 510 tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”
[34:8] 511 tn Heb “a year of repayment for the strife of Zion.” The translation assumes that רִיב (riv) refers to Edom’s hostility toward Zion. Another option is to understand רִיב (riv) as referring to the Lord’s taking up Zion’s cause. In this case one might translate, “a time when he will repay Edom and vindicate Zion.”
[34:9] 512 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Edom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:10] 513 tn Heb “it will not be extinguished.”
[34:11] 514 tn קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (cf. Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). קִפּוֹד (qippod) may also refer to a type of bird (NAB “hoot owl”; NIV “screech owl”; TEV “ravens”), but some have suggested a rodent may be in view (cf. NCV “small animals”; ASV “porcupine”; NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”).
[34:11] 515 tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).
[34:11] 516 tn The Hebrew text has יַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב (yanshof vÿ’orev). Both the יַנְשׁוֹף (“owl”; see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16) and עֹרֵב (“raven”; Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14) were types of wild birds.
[34:11] 517 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:11] 518 tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.
[34:11] 519 sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.
[34:12] 520 tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”
[34:13] 521 tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:13] 522 tc Heb “and she will be a settlement for wild dogs, a dwelling place for ostriches.” The translation assumes an emendation of חָצִיר (khatsir, “grass”) to חָצֵר (khatser, “settlement”). One of the Qumran scrolls of Isaiah (1QIsaa) supports this emendation (cf. HALOT 344 s.v. II חָצִיר)
[34:14] 523 tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”
[34:14] 524 tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”
[34:14] 525 tn The precise meaning of לִּילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”
[34:14] 526 tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”
[34:15] 527 tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.
[34:15] 528 tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.
[34:15] 529 tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”
[34:15] 530 tn The precise meaning of דַּיָּה (dayyah) is uncertain, though the term appears to refer to some type of bird of prey, perhaps a vulture.
[34:16] 531 tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”
[34:16] sn It is uncertain what particular scroll is referred to here. Perhaps the phrase simply refers to this prophecy and is an admonition to pay close attention to the details of the message.
[34:16] 532 tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
[34:16] 533 tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”
[34:16] 534 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and a few medieval
[34:16] 535 tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
[34:17] 536 tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again the pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
[34:17] 537 tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.
[34:17] 538 tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”
[35:1] 539 tn The final mem (ם) on the verb יְשֻׂשׂוּם (yÿsusum) is dittographic (note the initial mem on the following noun מִדְבָּר [midbar]). The ambiguous verbal form is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel). The jussive is used rhetorically here, not as a literal command or prayer.
[35:1] 540 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); NAB, NIV, TEV “desert.”
[35:2] 541 tn The ambiguous verb form תִּפְרַח (tifrakh) is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel).
[35:2] 542 tn Heb “and let it rejoice, yes [with] rejoicing and shouting.” גִּילַת (gilat) may be an archaic feminine nominal form (see GKC 421 §130.b).
[35:2] 543 tn Or “glory” (KJV, NIV, NRSV); also a second time later in this verse.
[35:3] 544 tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”
[35:4] 545 tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.
[35:4] 546 tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.
[35:6] 547 tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.”
[35:6] 548 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”
[35:8] 549 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.
[35:8] 550 tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.
[35:8] 551 tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.
[35:9] 552 tn Heb “will go up on it”; TEV “will pass that way.”
[35:10] 553 tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”
[35:10] 554 tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.
[35:10] 555 tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”
[35:10] 556 tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
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