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Isaiah 17:11-13
New English Translation
Isaiah 17:11-13
New English Translation
11 The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow;[a]
the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout.
Yet the harvest will disappear[b] in the day of disease
and incurable pain.
12 Beware, you many nations massing together,[c]
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves.[d]
Beware, you people making such an uproar,[e]
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves.[f]
13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves,[g]
when he shouts at[h] them, they will flee to a distant land,
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles[i] before a strong gale.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 17:11 tn Heb “in the day of your planting you [?].” The precise meaning of the verb תְּשַׂגְשֵׂגִי (tesagsegi) is unclear. It is sometimes derived from שׂוּג/סוּג (sug, “to fence in”; see BDB 691 s.v. II סוּג). In this case one could translate “you build a protective fence.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one derives the form from שָׂגָא/שָׂגָה (sagaʾ/sagah, “to grow”); see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:351, n. 4. For this verb, see BDB 960 s.v. שָׂגָא.
- Isaiah 17:11 tc The Hebrew text has, “a heap of harvest.” However, better sense is achieved if נֵד (ned, “heap”) is emended to a verb. Options include נַד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד [nadad, “flee, depart”]), נָדַד (Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד), נֹדֵד (noded, Qal active participle from נָדַד), and נָד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular, or participle masculine singular, from נוּד [nud, “wander, flutter”]). See BDB 626 s.v. נוּד and HALOT 672 s.v. I נדד. One could translate literally: “[the harvest] departs,” or “[the harvest] flies away.”
- Isaiah 17:12 tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.”
- Isaiah 17:12 tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”
- Isaiah 17:12 tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.”
- Isaiah 17:12 tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”
- Isaiah 17:13 tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”
- Isaiah 17:13 tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry, which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.
- Isaiah 17:13 tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”
Isaiah 17:11-13
New International Version
Isaiah 17:11-13
New International Version
11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
and on the morning(A) when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest(B) will be as nothing(C)
in the day of disease and incurable(D) pain.(E)
12 Woe to the many nations that rage(F)—
they rage like the raging sea!(G)
Woe to the peoples who roar(H)—
they roar like the roaring of great waters!(I)
13 Although the peoples roar(J) like the roar of surging waters,
when he rebukes(K) them they flee(L) far away,
driven before the wind like chaff(M) on the hills,
like tumbleweed before a gale.(N)
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