Isaiah 31-33

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 31:1 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”
2. Isaiah 31:1 tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”
3. Isaiah 31:1 tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”
4. Isaiah 31:1 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
5. Isaiah 31:2 sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
6. Isaiah 31:2 tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”
7. Isaiah 31:2 tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”
8. Isaiah 31:2 sn That is, Egypt.
9. Isaiah 31:2 tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”
10. Isaiah 31:3 tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”
11. Isaiah 31:3 tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”
12. Isaiah 31:4 tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.
13. Isaiah 31:4 tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”
14. Isaiah 31:4 tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsboʾ ʿal) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.
15. Isaiah 31:5 tn Heb “just as birds fly.” The words “over a nest” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
16. Isaiah 31:5 tn The only other occurrence of this verb is in Exod 12:13, 23, 27, where the Lord “passes over” (i.e., “spares”) the Israelite households as he comes to judge their Egyptian oppressors. The noun פֶּסַח (pesakh, “Passover”) is derived from the verb. The use of the verb in Isa 31:5 is probably an intentional echo of the Exodus event. As in the days of Moses the Lord will spare his people as he comes to judge their enemies.
17. Isaiah 31:6 tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p.
18. Isaiah 31:7 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
19. Isaiah 31:7 tn Heb “reject” (so NIV); NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT “throw away.”
20. Isaiah 31:7 tn Heb “their idols of silver and their idols of gold which your hands made for yourselves [in] sin.” חָטָא (khataʾ, “sin”) is understood as an adverbial accusative of manner. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:573, n. 4.
21. Isaiah 31:8 tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”
22. Isaiah 31:8 tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”
23. Isaiah 31:8 tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”
24. Isaiah 31:9 tn Heb “rocky cliff” (cf. ASV, NASB “rock”), viewed metaphorically as a place of defense and security.
25. Isaiah 31:9 tn Heb “His rocky cliff, because of fear, will pass away [i.e., “perish”].”
26. Isaiah 31:9 tn Heb “and they will be afraid of the flag, his officers.”
27. Isaiah 31:9 sn The “fire” and “firepot” here symbolize divine judgment, which is heating up like a fire in Jerusalem, waiting to be used against the Assyrians when they attack the city.
28. Isaiah 32:1 tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”
29. Isaiah 32:1 tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”
30. Isaiah 32:2 tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (ʾish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.
31. Isaiah 32:3 tn Heb “Eyes that see.”
32. Isaiah 32:3 tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (t^eshoʿenah) from שָׁעַע (shʿaʿa, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.
33. Isaiah 32:3 tn Heb “ears that hear.”
34. Isaiah 32:4 tn Heb “the heart of rashness will understand knowledge”; cf. NAB “The flighty will become wise and capable.”
35. Isaiah 32:6 tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.
36. Isaiah 32:6 tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”
37. Isaiah 32:6 tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”
38. Isaiah 32:6 tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”
39. Isaiah 32:6 tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”
40. Isaiah 32:7 tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”
41. Isaiah 32:7 tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”
42. Isaiah 32:7 tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”
43. Isaiah 32:8 tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”
44. Isaiah 32:9 tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”
45. Isaiah 32:9 tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”
46. Isaiah 32:10 tn Heb “days upon a year.”
47. Isaiah 32:10 tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.
48. Isaiah 32:11 tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khir^edu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, shaʾanannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, r^egazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, p^eshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ʿorah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khir^edu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “Aramaized” forms.
49. Isaiah 32:12 tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (ʿal) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (s^efodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).
50. Isaiah 32:13 tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.
51. Isaiah 32:13 tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.
52. Isaiah 32:13 sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.
53. Isaiah 32:14 tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).
54. Isaiah 32:14 tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (ʿofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.
55. Isaiah 32:14 tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (v^eʿad m^eʿarot). 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 (m^eʿarot) as a homonym of “cave” and defines it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear—the city will be uninhabited.
56. Isaiah 32:14 tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”
57. Isaiah 32:15 tn The words “The desolation will continue” refer to the previous context and have been added for smoothness.
58. Isaiah 32:15 tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (ʿarah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.
59. Isaiah 32:15 tn The term כַּרְמֶל (karmel) may refer to fertile land, an orchard, a garden of vines, a plantation of trees, or fresh grain. The dictionaries may subdivide these meaning under homonyms (see BDB 502, NIDOTTE 718, HALOT 499, The Concise DCH, 183). The picture of transformation is clearer when it is understood that a מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness”) is an area that does not receive enough rainfall to support trees.
60. Isaiah 32:15 sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.
61. Isaiah 32:16 sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.
62. Isaiah 32:17 tn Heb “and the product of fairness will be peace.”
63. Isaiah 32:17 tn Heb “and the work of fairness [will be] calmness and security forever.”
64. Isaiah 32:18 tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”
65. Isaiah 32:19 tn Heb “and [?] when the forest descends.” The form וּבָרַד (uvarad) is often understood as an otherwise unattested denominative verb meaning “to hail” (HALOT 154 s.v. I ברד). In this case one might translate, “and it hails when the forest is destroyed” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV). Perhaps the text alludes to a powerful wind and hail storm that knocks down limbs and trees. Some prefer to emend the form to וְיָרַד (v^eyarad), “and it descends,” which provides better, though not perfect, symmetry with the parallel line (cf. NAB). Perhaps וּבָרַד should be dismissed as dittographic. In this case the statement (“when the forest descends”) lacks a finite verb and seems incomplete, but perhaps it is subordinate to v. 20.
66. Isaiah 32:19 tn Heb “and in humiliation the city is laid low.”
67. Isaiah 32:20 tn Heb “by all the waters.”
68. Isaiah 32:20 tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”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.
69. Isaiah 33:1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”sn In this context “the destroyer” appears to refer collectively to the hostile nations (vv. 3-4). Assyria would probably have been primary in the minds of the prophet and his audience.
70. Isaiah 33:1 tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.
71. Isaiah 33:1 tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”
72. Isaiah 33:2 tn Heb “Be their arm each morning.” “Arm” is a symbol for strength. The mem suffixed to the noun has been traditionally understood as a third person suffix, but this is contrary to the context, where the people speak of themselves in the first person. The mem (מ) is probably enclitic with ellipsis of the pronoun, which can be supplied from the context. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:589, n. 1.
73. Isaiah 33:2 tn Heb “[Be] also our deliverance in the time of distress.”
74. Isaiah 33:3 tn Heb “at the sound of tumult the nations run away.”
75. Isaiah 33:3 tn Heb “because of your exaltation the nations scatter.”
76. Isaiah 33:4 tn The pronoun is plural; the statement is addressed to the nations who have stockpiled plunder from their conquests of others.
77. Isaiah 33:4 tn Heb “and your plunder is gathered, the gathering of the locust.”
78. Isaiah 33:4 tn Heb “like a swarm of locusts swarming on it.”
79. Isaiah 33:5 tn Or “elevated”; NCV, NLT “is very great.”
80. Isaiah 33:5 tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NIV).
81. Isaiah 33:5 tn Heb “on high” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “in the heavens.”
82. Isaiah 33:6 tn Heb “and he is the stability of your times.”
83. Isaiah 33:6 tn Heb “a rich store of deliverance, wisdom, and knowledge.”
84. Isaiah 33:6 tn Heb “the fear of the Lord, it is his treasure.”
85. Isaiah 33:7 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Proposals include “heroes” (cf. KJV, ASV “valiant ones”; NASB, NIV “brave men”); “priests,” “residents [of Jerusalem].” The present translation assumes that the term is synonymous with “messengers of peace,” with which it corresponds in the parallel structure of the verse.
86. Isaiah 33:7 tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).
87. Isaiah 33:8 tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”
88. Isaiah 33:8 tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”
89. Isaiah 33:8 tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”
90. Isaiah 33:8 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “he despises cities.” The term עָרִים (ʿarim, “cities”) probably needs to be emended to an original עֵדִים (ʿedim, “[legal] witnesses”), a reading that is preserved in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.
91. Isaiah 33:8 tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”
92. Isaiah 33:9 tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”
93. Isaiah 33:9 tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. I אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism. See 24:4.
94. Isaiah 33:9 tn Heb “Lebanon is ashamed.” The Hiphil is exhibitive, expressing the idea, “exhibits shame.” In this context the statement alludes to the withering of vegetation.
95. Isaiah 33:9 sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.
96. Isaiah 33:9 tn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) is a geographic feature extending from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. Especially in the vicinity of the Dead Sea and then ranging southward, it is very dry with little vegetation.
97. Isaiah 33:9 sn Both of these areas were known for their trees and vegetation. See 2:13; 35:2.
98. Isaiah 33:9 tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”
99. Isaiah 33:10 tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”
100. Isaiah 33:11 tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.
101. Isaiah 33:11 sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.
102. Isaiah 33:12 tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.
103. Isaiah 33:14 tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”
104. Isaiah 33:14 tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”
105. Isaiah 33:14 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
106. Isaiah 33:14 tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
107. Isaiah 33:15 tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).
108. Isaiah 33:15 tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”
109. Isaiah 33:15 tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”
110. Isaiah 33:15 tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”
111. Isaiah 33:15 tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”
112. Isaiah 33:16 tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”
113. Isaiah 33:16 tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”
114. Isaiah 33:17 tn Heb “your eyes will see a king in his beauty”; NIV, NRSV “the king.”
115. Isaiah 33:17 tn Heb “a land of distances,” i.e., an extensive land.
116. Isaiah 33:18 tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”
117. Isaiah 33:18 tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
118. Isaiah 33:18 sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.
119. Isaiah 33:19 tn The Hebrew form נוֹעָז (noʿaz) is a Niphal participle derived from יָעַז (yaʿaz, an otherwise unattested verb) or from עָזָז (ʿazaz, “be strong,” unattested elsewhere in the Niphal). Some prefer to emend the form to לוֹעֵז (loʿez) which occurs in Ps 114:1 with the meaning “speak a foreign language.” See HALOT 809 s.v. עזז, 533 s.v. לעז. In this case, one might translate “people who speak a foreign language.”
120. Isaiah 33:19 tn Heb “a people too deep of lip to hear.” The phrase “deep of lip” must be an idiom meaning “lips that speak words that are unfathomable [i.e., incomprehensible].”
121. Isaiah 33:19 tn Heb “derision of tongue there is no understanding.” The Niphal of לָעַג (laʿag) occurs only here. In the Qal and Hiphil the verb means “to deride, mock.” A related noun is used in 28:11.
122. Isaiah 33:20 tn Heb “your eyes” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
123. Isaiah 33:20 tn Or “that does not travel”; NASB “which shall not be folded.”
124. Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “But there [as] a mighty one [will be] the Lord for us.”
125. Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “a place of rivers, streams wide of hands [i.e., on both sides].”
126. Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “a ship of rowing will not go into it.”
127. Isaiah 33:21 tn Heb “and a mighty ship will not pass through it.”
128. Isaiah 33:23 tn The words “though at this time” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first half of the verse is addressed to Judah and contrasts the nation’s present weakness with its future prosperity. Judah is compared to a ship that is incapable of sailing.
129. Isaiah 33:23 tn Heb “they do not fasten the base of their mast.” On כֵּן (ken, “base”) see BDB 487 s.v. III כֵּן and HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן.
130. Isaiah 33:23 tn Or perhaps, “flag.”
131. Isaiah 33:23 tn Heb “then there will be divided up loot of plunder [in] abundance.”
132. Isaiah 33:23 sn Judah’s victory over its enemies will be so thorough there will be more than enough plunder for everyone, even slow-moving lame men who would normally get left out in the rush to gather the loot.
133. Isaiah 33:24 tn The words “of Zion” are supplied in the translation for clarification.