19:26 Their residents are powerless, 1
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation. 2
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops 3
when it is scorched by the east wind. 4
4:2 At that time 5
the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; 6
the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight
to those who remain in Israel. 7
17:22 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will take a sprig 8 from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. 9
I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs;
I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
1 tn Heb “short of hand.”
2 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
3 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
4 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah), “standing grain,” to קָדִים (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isaa in Isa 37:27).
5 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
6 tn Heb “and the vegetation of the Lord will become beauty and honor.” Many English versions understand the phrase צֶמַח יְהוָה (tsemakh yÿhvah) as a messianic reference and render it, “the Branch of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and others). Though צֶמַח (tsemakh) is used by later prophets of a royal descendant (Jer 23;5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12), those passages contain clear contextual indicators that a human ruler is in view and that the word is being used in a metaphorical way of offspring. However, in Isa 4:2 there are no such contextual indicators. To the contrary, in the parallel structure of the verse צֶמַח יְהוָה corresponds to “produce of the land,” a phrase that refers elsewhere exclusively to literal agricultural produce (see Num 13:20, 26; Deut 1:25). In the majority of its uses צֶמַח refers to literal crops or vegetation (in Ps 65:10 the Lord is the source of this vegetation). A reference to the Lord restoring crops would make excellent sense in Isa 4 and the prophets frequently included this theme in their visions of the future age (see Isa 30:23-24; 32:20; Jer 31:12; Ezek 34:26-29; and Amos 9:13-14).
7 tn Heb “and the fruit of the land will become pride and beauty for the remnant of Israel.”
8 sn The language is analogous to messianic imagery in Isa 11:1; Zech 3:8; 6:4 although the technical terminology is not the same.
9 tc The LXX lacks “and plant it.”