Isaiah 57:4-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 57:4 tn Heb “Are you not children of rebellion, offspring of a lie?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course you are!”
2. Isaiah 57:5 tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.
3. Isaiah 57:5 tn The term אֵלִים (ʾelim) may be from a root meaning “mighty ones,” referring to mighty trees. The form may also refer to “gods,” a less common masculine plural of (ʾel). This would fit the context of idolatry (lusting after gods).
4. Isaiah 57:5 sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
5. Isaiah 57:6 tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.
6. Isaiah 57:6 tn The text reads literally as a question, “Because of these am I relenting?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one could understand the verb in the sense of “Because of these I will seek vengeance,” as in 1:24. If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question is rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.”