Footnotes

1. 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.
2. Isaiah 33:7 tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).
3. Isaiah 33:8 tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”
4. Isaiah 33:8 tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”
5. Isaiah 33:8 tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”
6. 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.
7. Isaiah 33:8 tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”
8. Isaiah 33:9 tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Isaiah 33:9 sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.
12. 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.
13. Isaiah 33:9 sn Both of these areas were known for their trees and vegetation. See 2:13; 35:2.
14. Isaiah 33:9 tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”