Isaiah 18
New English Translation
The Lord Will Judge a Distant Land in the South
18 Beware, land of buzzing wings,[a]
the one beyond the rivers of Cush,
2 that sends messengers by sea,
who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.
Go, you swift messengers,
to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people,[b]
to a people that are feared far and wide,[c]
to a nation strong and victorious,[d]
whose land rivers divide.[e]
3 All you who live in the world,
who reside on the earth,
you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains;
you will hear a trumpet being blown.
4 For this is what the Lord has told me:
“I will wait[f] and watch from my place,
like scorching heat produced by the sunlight,[g]
like a cloud of mist[h] in the heat[i] of harvest.”[j]
5 For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted,
and the ripening fruit appears,[k]
he will cut off the unproductive shoots[l] with pruning knives;
he will prune the tendrils.[m]
6 They will all be left[n] for the birds of the hills
and the wild animals;[o]
the birds will eat them during the summer,
and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter.
7 At that time
tribute will be brought to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,
a people that are feared far and wide,
a nation strong and victorious,
whose land rivers divide.[p]
The tribute[q] will be brought to the place where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion.[r]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 18:1 sn The significance of the qualifying phrase “buzzing wings” is uncertain. Some suggest that the designation points to Cush as a land with many insects. Another possibility is that it refers to the swiftness with which this land’s messengers travel (v. 2a); they move over the sea as swiftly as an insect flies through the air. For a discussion of the options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:359-60.
- Isaiah 18:2 tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (memushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.
- Isaiah 18:2 tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”
- Isaiah 18:2 tn Once more the precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. The expression קַו קָו (qav qav) is sometimes related to a proposed Arabic cognate and taken to mean “strength” (see BDB 876 II קַו). Others, on the basis of Isa 28:10, 13, understand the form as gibberish (literally, “kav, kav”) and take it to be a reference to this nation’s strange, unknown language. The form מְבוּסָה (mevusah) appears to be derived from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”), so lexicographers suggest the meaning “trampling” or “subjugation,” i.e., a nation that subdues others. See BDB 101 s.v. בּוּס and HALOT 541 s.v. מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.
- Isaiah 18:2 tn The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (bazaʾ), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. BDB 102 s.v. suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; HALOT 117 s.v., citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”
- Isaiah 18:4 tn Or “be quiet, inactive”; NIV “will remain quiet.”
- Isaiah 18:4 tn Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.
- Isaiah 18:4 tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”
- Isaiah 18:4 tc Some medieval Hebrew mss, with support from the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, read “the day.”
- Isaiah 18:4 sn It is unclear how the comparisons in v. 4b relate to the preceding statement. How is waiting and watching similar to heat or a cloud? For a discussion of interpretive options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:362.
- Isaiah 18:5 tn Heb “and the unripe, ripening fruit is maturing.”
- Isaiah 18:5 tn On the meaning of זַלְזַל (zalzal, “shoot [of the vine] without fruit buds”) see HALOT 272 s.v. *זַלְזַל.
- Isaiah 18:5 tn Heb “the tendrils he will remove, he will cut off.”
- Isaiah 18:6 tn Heb “they will be left together” (so NASB).
- Isaiah 18:6 tn Heb “the beasts of the earth” (so KJV, NASB).
- Isaiah 18:7 tn On the interpretive difficulties of this verse, see the notes at v. 2, where the same terminology is used.
- Isaiah 18:7 tn The words “the tribute” are repeated here in the translation for clarity.
- Isaiah 18:7 tn Heb “to the place of the name of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], Mount Zion.”
Isaiah 18
Expanded Bible
God’s Message to Cush
18 ·How terrible it will be for [Woe to; or Listen,] the land beyond the rivers of ·Cush [or Ethiopia; C the upper Nile region].
·It is filled with the sound of wings [L …the land of buzzing wings; or …the land of flapping sails].
2 That land sends ·messengers [envoys; ambassadors] across the sea;
they go on the water in boats made of ·reeds [papyrus; C light and speedy].
Go, ·quick [swiftly] messengers,
to a people who are tall and smooth-skinned,
who are feared ·everywhere [far and wide].
They are a powerful nation ·that defeats other nations [or who speak a strange language].
Their land is divided by rivers.
3 All you ·people [inhabitants] of the world, look!
Everyone who lives in the world, look!
You will see a ·banner [standard; signal flag] raised on a mountain.
You will hear a trumpet sound.
4 The Lord said to me,
“I will quietly watch from ·where I live [my dwelling place],
like ·heat in the sunshine [L glowing heat upon the light],
like ·the dew [L a cloud of dew] in the heat of harvest time.”
5 The time will come, after the flowers have bloomed and before the harvest,
when ·new grapes will be budding and growing [the flower becomes a ripening grape].
·The enemy [or The Lord; L He] will cut the plants with pruning knives;
he will cut down the ·vines [branches; tendrils] and take them away.
6 They will be left for the ·birds [or birds of prey] of the mountains
and for the wild animals.
Birds will feed on them all summer,
and wild animals will eat them that winter.”
7 ·At that time [L In that day] ·a gift [tribute] will be brought to the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts]
from the people who are tall and smooth-skinned,
who are feared ·everywhere [far and wide].
They are a powerful nation ·that defeats other nations [or who speak a strange language].
Their land is divided by rivers.
These gifts will be brought to the place ·of [L of the name of] the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts],
to Mount Zion.
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