Yesaya 12:5

12:5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things,

let this be known ¹  throughout the earth!

Yesaya 18:1

The Lord Will Judge a Distant Land in the South

18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, ² 

the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

[12:5]  ¹ tc The translation follows the marginal reading (Qere), which is a Hophal participle from יָדַע (yada’), understood here in a gerundive sense.

[18:1]  ² tn Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[18:1]  sn The significance of the qualifying phrase “buzzing wings” is uncertain. Some suggest that the designation points to Cush as a land with many insects. Another possibility is that it refers to the swiftness with which this land’s messengers travel (v. 2a); they move over the sea as swiftly as an insect flies through the air. For a discussion of the options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:359-60.