Yesaya 2:6

The Lord’s Day of Judgment

2:6 Indeed, O Lord, ¹  you have abandoned your people,

the descendants of Jacob.

For diviners from the east are everywhere; ² 

they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. ³ 

Plenty of foreigners are around. ⁴ 

Yesaya 10:13

10:13 For he says:

“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,

by my strategy that I devised.

I invaded the territory of nations, ⁵ 

and looted their storehouses.

Like a mighty conqueror, ⁶  I brought down rulers. ⁷ 

Yesaya 30:14

30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,

so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ⁸ 

Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ⁹ 

to scoop a hot coal from a fire ¹⁰ 

or to skim off water from a cistern.” ¹¹ 

Yesaya 32:6

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; ¹² 

his mind plans out sinful deeds. ¹³ 

He commits godless deeds ¹⁴ 

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite ¹⁵ 

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 58:9

58:9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;

you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’

You must ¹⁷  remove the burdensome yoke from among you

and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.

Yesaya 66:14

66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, ¹⁸ 

and you will be revived. ¹⁹ 

The Lord will reveal his power to his servants

and his anger to his enemies. ²⁰ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn The words “O Lord” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Isaiah addresses the Lord in prayer.

[2:6]  ² tc Heb “they are full from the east.” Various scholars retain the BHS reading and suggest that the prophet makes a general statement concerning Israel’s reliance on foreign customs (J. Watts, Isaiah [WBC], 1:32; J. de Waard, Isaiah, 12-13). Nevertheless, it appears that a word is missing. Based on the parallelism (note “omen readers” in 5:6c), many suggest that קֹסְמִים (qosÿmim, “diviners”) or מִקְסָם (miqsam, “divination”) has been accidentally omitted. Homoioteleuton could account for the omission of an original קֹסְמִים (note how this word and the following מִקֶּדֶם [miqqedem, “from the east”] both end in mem); an original מִקְסָם could have fallen out by homoioarcton (note how this word and the following מִקֶּדֶם both begin with mem).

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “and omen readers like the Philistines.” Through this line and the preceding, the prophet contends that Israel has heavily borrowed the pagan practices of the east and west (in violation of Lev 19:26; Deut 18:9-14).

[2:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “and with the children of foreigners they [?].” The precise meaning of the final word is uncertain. Some take this verb (I שָׂפַק, safaq) to mean “slap,” supply the object “hands,” and translate, “they slap [hands] with foreigners”; HALOT 1349 s.v. I שׂפק. This could be a reference to foreign alliances. This translation has two disadvantages: It requires the conjectural insertion of “hands” and the use of this verb with its object prefixed with a בְּ (bet) preposition with this meaning does not occur elsewhere. The other uses of this verb refer to clapping at someone, an indication of hostility. The translation above assumes the verb is derived from II שׂפק (“to suffice,” attested in the Qal in 1 Kgs 20:10; HALOT 1349 s.v. II שׂפק). In this case the point is that a sufficient number of foreigners (in this case, too many!) live in the land. The disadvantage of this option is that the preposition prefixed to “the children of foreigners” does not occur with this verb elsewhere. The chosen translation is preferred since it continues the idea of abundant foreign influence and does not require a conjectural insertion or emendation.

[10:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”

[10:13]  ⁶ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).

[10:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.

[30:14]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

[30:14]  ¹¹ tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.

[32:6]  ¹² tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

[32:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

[32:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

[32:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

[32:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”

[58:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 9b-10 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in vv. 9b-10a), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 10b.

[66:14]  ¹⁸ tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”

[66:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”

[66:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”