Yesaya 37:27
Konteks37:27 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
Yesaya 40:6
Konteks40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks, 5 “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds: 6 “All people are like grass, 7
and all their promises 8 are like the flowers in the field.
Yesaya 51:12
Konteks51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. 9
Why are you afraid of mortal men,
of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? 10
[37:27] 1 tn Heb “short of hand”; KJV, ASV “of small power”; NASB “short of strength.”
[37:27] 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.
[37:27] 3 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
[37:27] 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; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:657, n. 8.
[40:6] 5 tn Heb “and he says.” Apparently a second “voice” responds to the command of the first “voice.”
[40:6] 6 tn The words “the first voice responds” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first voice tells the second one what to declare.
[40:6] 7 tn Heb “all flesh is grass.” The point of the metaphor is explained in v. 7.
[40:6] 8 tn Heb “and all his loyalty.” The antecedent of the third masculine suffix is בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”), which refers collectively to mankind. The LXX, apparently understanding the antecedent as “grass,” reads “glory,” but חֶסֶד (khesed) rarely, if ever, has this nuance. The normal meaning of חֶסֶד (“faithfulness, loyalty, devotion”) fits very well in the argument. Human beings and their faithfulness (verbal expressions of faithfulness are specifically in view; cf. NRSV “constancy”) are short-lived and unreliable, in stark contrast to the decrees and promises of the eternal God.
[51:12] 9 tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.
[51:12] 10 tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.
