Yesaya 33:18

33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, ¹ 

and you will ask yourselves, ²  “Where is the scribe?

Where is the one who weighs the money?

Where is the one who counts the towers?” ³ 

Yesaya 40:20

40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; ⁴ 

he then seeks a skilled craftsman

to make ⁵  an idol that will not fall over.

[33:18]  ¹ tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”

[33:18]  ² tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[33:18]  ³ 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.

[40:20]  ⁴ tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.

[40:20]  ⁵ tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”