Yesaya 32:14

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ¹  city is abandoned.

Hill ²  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ³ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ⁴ 

Yesaya 32:20

32:20 you will be blessed,

you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, ⁵ 

you who let your ox and donkey graze. ⁶ 

[32:14]  ¹ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ² tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

[32:14]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

[32:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

[32:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “by all the waters.”

[32:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”

[32:20]  sn This verse seems to anticipate a time when fertile land is available to cultivate and crops are so abundant that the farm animals can be allowed to graze freely.