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 14:29

14:29 Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines,

just because the club that beat you has been broken! ⁵ 

For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root,

and its fruit will be a darting adder. ⁶ 

Yesaya 18:2

18:2 that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, ⁷ 

to a people that are feared far and wide, ⁸ 

to a nation strong and victorious, ⁹ 

whose land rivers divide. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 28:13

28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like

meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ¹¹ 

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ¹² 

and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ¹³ 

Yesaya 33:15

33:15 The one who lives ¹⁴  uprightly ¹⁵ 

and speaks honestly;

the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures

and rejects a bribe; ¹⁶ 

the one who does not plot violent crimes ¹⁷ 

and does not seek to harm others ¹⁸  –

Yesaya 45:21

45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! ¹⁹ 

Let them consult with one another!

Who predicted this in the past?

Who announced it beforehand?

Was it not I, the Lord?

I have no peer, there is no God but me,

a God who vindicates and delivers; ²⁰ 

there is none but me.

Yesaya 48:11

48:11 For my sake alone ²¹  I will act,

for how can I allow my name to be defiled? ²² 

I will not share my glory with anyone else! ²³ 

Yesaya 49:8

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you ²⁴  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ²⁵ 

to rebuild ²⁶  the land ²⁷ 

and to reassign the desolate property.

Yesaya 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ²⁸  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ²⁹  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ³⁰  will not disappear. ³¹ 

Yesaya 51:22

51:22 This is what your sovereign master, ³²  the Lord your God, says:

“Look, I have removed from your hand

the cup of intoxicating wine, ³³ 

the goblet full of my anger. ³⁴ 

You will no longer have to drink it.

Yesaya 56:7

56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;

I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. ³⁵ 

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,

for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” ³⁶ 

Yesaya 59:21

59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to ³⁷  them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” ³⁸  says the Lord.

Yesaya 62:8

62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,

by his strong arm: ³⁹ 

“I will never again give your grain

to your enemies as food,

and foreigners will not drink your wine,

which you worked hard to produce.

[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.

[14:29]  ⁵ sn The identity of this “club” (also referred to as a “serpent” in the next line) is uncertain. It may refer to an Assyrian king, or to Ahaz. For discussion see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:331-32. The viper/adder referred to in the second half of the verse is his successor.

[14:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “flying burning one.” The designation “burning one” may allude to the serpent’s appearance or the effect of its poisonous bite. (See the note at 6:2.) The qualifier “flying” probably refers to the serpent’s quick, darting movements, though one might propose a homonym here, meaning “biting.” (See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:332, n. 18.) Some might think in terms of a mythological flying, fire breathing dragon (cf. NAB “a flying saraph”; CEV “a flying fiery dragon”), but this proposal does not make good sense in 30:6, where the phrase “flying burning one” appears again in a list of desert animals.

[18:2]  ⁷ tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (mÿmushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Once more the precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. The expression קַו־קָו (qav-qav) is sometimes related to a proposed Arabic cognate and taken to mean “strength” (see BDB 876 II קַו). Others, on the basis of Isa 28:10, 13, understand the form as gibberish (literally, “kav, kav”) and take it to be a reference to this nation’s strange, unknown language. The form מְבוּסָה (mÿvusah) appears to be derived from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”), so lexicographers suggest the meaning “trampling” or “subjugation,” i.e., a nation that subdues others. See BDB 101 s.v. בּוּס and HALOT 541 s.v. מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (baza’), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. BDB 102 s.v. suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; HALOT 117 s.v., citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”

[28:13]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

[33:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).

[33:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”

[33:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”

[33:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”

[33:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”

[45:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ²⁰ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”

[48:11]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lÿma’ani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.

[48:11]  ²² tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).

[48:11]  ²³ sn See 42:8.

[49:8]  ²⁴ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).

[49:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.

[49:8]  ²⁶ tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”

[49:8]  ²⁷ tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.

[51:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[51:22]  ³² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[51:22]  ³³ tn Heb “the cup of [= that causes] staggering” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV); NASB “the cup of reeling.”

[51:22]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the goblet of the cup of my anger.”

[56:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”

[56:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”

[59:21]  ³⁷ tn Or “my covenant with” (so many English versions); NCV “my agreement with.”

[59:21]  sn The Lord promises the repentant (note “to them”) that they and their offspring will possess his spirit and function as his spokesmen. In this regard they follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s special servant. See 42:1; 49:2; 51:16.

[59:21]  ³⁸ tn Heb “from now and on into the future.”

[62:8]  ³⁹ tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.