Isaiah 17–23

Footnotes

1. 1 Three cities are known by this name in the OT: (1) an Aroer located near the Arnon, (2) an Aroer in Ammon, and (3) an Aroer of Judah. (See 792–93 עֲרֹעֵר, and II עֲרוֹעֵר.) There is no mention of an Aroer in Syrian territory. For this reason some want to emend the text here to עֲזֻבוֹת עָרַיהָ עֲדֵי עַד (’azuvot ’arayha ’adey ’ad, “her cities are permanently abandoned”). However, Aroer near the Arnon was taken by Israel and later conquered by the Syrians. (See Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16; Judg 11:26; 2 Kgs 10:33). This oracle pertains to Israel as well as Syria (note v. 3), so it is possible that this is a reference to Israelite and/or Syrian losses in Transjordan.
2. 2 Heb “and they lie down and there is no one scaring [them].”
3. 3 Heb “and kingship from Damascus”; cf. “And sovereignty from Damascus.”
4. 4 Heb “in that day” (so ). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in .
5. 5 Heb “will be tiny.”
6. 6 Heb “and the fatness of his flesh will be made lean.”
7. 7 Heb “in that day” (so , , ); “At that day.”
8. 8 Heb “man will gaze toward his maker.”
9. 9 Heb “his eyes will look toward.”
10. 10 See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in .
11. 11 Heb “he will not gaze toward.”
12. 12 Heb “and that which his fingers made he will not see, the Asherah poles and the incense altars.”
13. 13 Heb “in that day” (so ).
14. 14 The Hebrew text reads literally, “like the abandonment of the wooded height and the top one.” The following relative clause appears to allude back to the Israelite conquest of the land, so it seems preferable to emend הַחֹרֶשׁ וְהָאָמִיר (hakhoresh véha’amir, “the wooded height and the top one”) to חֹרֵשֵׁי הָאֱמֹרִי (khoreshe ha’emori, “[like the abandonment] of the wooded heights of the Amorites”).
15. 15 Heb “you have forgotten” (so , , ).
16. 16 Heb “and the rocky cliff of your strength you do not remember.”
17. 17 Heb “a vine, a strange one.” The substantival adjective זָר (zar) functions here as an appositional genitive. It could refer to a cultic plant of some type, associated with a pagan rite. But it is more likely that it refers to an exotic, or imported, type of vine, one that is foreign (i.e., “strange”) to Israel.
18. 18 Heb “in the day of your planting you [?].” The precise meaning of the verb תְּשַׂגְשֵׂגִי (tésagsegi) is unclear. It is sometimes derived from שׂוּג/סוּג (sug, “to fence in”; see 691 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 (saga’/sagah, “to grow”); see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (), 1:, n. 4. For this verb, see 960 שָׂגָא.
19. 19 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 626 נוּד and I נדד. One could translate literally: “[the harvest] departs,” or “[the harvest] flies away.”
20. 20 Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of .
21. 21 Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”
22. 22 Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.
23. 23 Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”
24. 24 Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”
25. 25 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, 3:49–53.
26. 26 Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (, , ); “like a rolling thing.”
27. 27 Heb “at the time of evening, look, sudden terror.”
28. 28 Heb “before morning he is not.”
29. 29 Heb “this is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who loot us.”
30. 1 Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of . 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 (), 1:.
31. 2 The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (mémushakh) 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 604 מָשַׁךְ, and 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 598–99 מָרַט, and מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.
32. 3 Heb “from it and onwards.” הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”
33. 4 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 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 (mévusah) 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 101 בּוּס and מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.
34. 5 The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (baza’), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. 102 suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; , citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”
35. 6 Or “be quiet, inactive”; “will remain quiet.”
36. 7 Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.
37. 8 Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”
38. 9 Some medieval Hebrew , with support from the , , and Latin , read “the day.”
39. 10 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 (), 1:.
40. 11 Heb “and the unripe, ripening fruit is maturing.”
41. 12 On the meaning of זַלְזַל (zalzal, “shoot [of the vine] without fruit buds”) see *זַלְזַל.
42. 13 Heb “the tendrils he will remove, he will cut off.”
43. 14 Heb “they will be left together” (so ).
44. 15 Heb “the beasts of the earth” (so , ).
45. 16 On the interpretive difficulties of this verse, see the notes at v. , where the same terminology is used.
46. 17 The words “the tribute” are repeated here in the translation for clarity.
47. 18 Heb “to the place of the name of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], Mount Zion.”
48. 1 Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”
49. 2 Heb I will provoke Egypt against Egypt” ( similar).
50. 3 Heb “and they will fight, a man against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” Civil strife will extend all the way from the domestic level to the provincial arena.
51. 4 Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”
52. 5 The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see I בלע.
53. 6 Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in .
54. 7 The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
55. 8 Heb “will dry up and be dry.” Two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
56. 9 Heb “rivers” (so , ); , “streams”; “channels.”
57. 10 The verb form appears as a Hiphil in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa; the form in may be a so-called “mixed form,” reflecting the Hebrew Hiphil stem and the functionally corresponding Aramaic Aphel stem. See I זנח.
58. 11 Heb “the plants by the river, by the mouth of the river.”
59. 12 Heb “will dry up, [being] scattered, and it will vanish.”
60. 13 Or perhaps, “will disappear”; cf. “will be useless.”
61. 14 301 חוֹרִי suggests the meaning “white stuff” for חוֹרִי (khori); the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has חָוֵרוּ (khaveru), probably a Qal perfect, third plural form of חוּר, (khur, “be white, pale”). See I חור. The latter reading is assumed in the translation above.
62. 15 Some interpret שָׁתֹתֶיהָ (shatoteha) as “her foundations,” i.e., leaders, nobles. See 1011 שָׁת. Others, on the basis of alleged cognates in Akkadian and Coptic, repoint the form שְׁתִיתֶיהָ (shétiteha) and translate “her weavers.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (), 1:.
63. 16 Heb “crushed.” Emotional distress is the focus of the context (see vv. 8–9, 10b).
64. 17 Heb “sad of soul”; cf. , “sick at heart.”
65. 18 Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”
66. 19 Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (), 1:. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.
67. 20 Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See אֶי.
68. 21 Heb “Noph” (so ); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.”
69. 22 Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural.
70. 23 Heb “the Lord has mixed into her midst a spirit of blindness.”
71. 24 Heb “like the going astray of a drunkard in his vomit.”
72. 25 Heb “And there will not be for Egypt a deed, which head and tail, shoot and stalk can do.” In 9:14–15 the phrase “head or tail” refers to leaders and prophets, respectively. This interpretation makes good sense in this context, where both leaders and advisers (probably including prophets and diviners) are mentioned (vv. 11–14). Here, as in 9:14, “shoots and stalk” picture a reed, which symbolizes the leadership of the nation in its entirety.
73. 26 Heb “in that day” (so ), likewise at the beginning of vv. 18 and 19.
74. 27 Heb “Egypt,” which stands by metonymy for the country’s inhabitants.
75. 28 As the rest of the verse indicates, the point of the simile is that the Egyptians will be relatively weak physically and will wilt in fear before the Lord’s onslaught.
76. 29 Heb “and he will tremble and be afraid because of the brandishing of the hand of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], which he brandishes against him.” Since according to the imagery here the Lord’s “hand” is raised as a weapon against the Egyptians, the term “fist” has been used in the translation.
77. 30 Heb “and the land of Judah will become [a source of] shame to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it [i.e., the land of Judah] will fear because of the plan of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] which he is planning against him.”
78. 31 The significance of the number “five” in this context is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (), 1:.
79. 32 The Hebrew text has עִיר הַהֶרֶס (’ir haheres, “City of Destruction”; cf. , ) but this does not fit the positive emphasis of vv. 18–22. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and some medieval Hebrew read עִיר הָחֶרֶס (’ir hakheres, “City of the Sun,” i.e., Heliopolis). This reading also finds support from Symmachus’ Greek version, the , and the . See חֶרֶס and II חֶרֶס.
80. 33 This word is sometimes used of a sacred pillar associated with pagan worship, but here it is associated with the worship of the Lord.
81. 34 The masculine noun מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbbeakh, “altar”) in v. 19 is probably the subject of the masculine singular verb הָיָה (hayah) rather than the feminine noun מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”), also in v. 19.
82. 35 Heb “a sign and a witness to the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] in the land of Egypt.”
83. 36 רָב (rav) is a substantival participle (from רִיב, riv) meaning “one who strives, contends.”
84. 37 Heb “Egypt.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the present translation uses the pronoun (“they”) here.
85. 38 Heb “will know the Lord.”
86. 39 Heb “in that day” (so ), likewise at the beginning of vv. 23 and 24.
87. 40 Heb “he will be entreated.” The Niphal has a tolerative sense here, “he will allow himself to be entreated.”
88. 41 The text could be translated, “and Egypt will serve Assyria” (cf. ), but subjugation of one nation to the other does not seem to be a theme in vv. 23–25. Rather the nations are viewed as equals before the Lord (v. 25). Therefore it is better to take אֶת (’et) in v. 23b as a preposition, “together with,” rather than the accusative sign. The names of the two countries are understood to refer by metonymy to their respective inhabitants.
89. 42 Heb “will be a blessing” (so ).
90. 43 Or “land” (, ).
91. 44 Heb “which the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will bless [it], saying.” The third masculine singular suffix on the form בֵּרֲכוֹ (berakho) should probably be emended to a third feminine singular suffix בֵּרֲכָהּ (berakhah), for its antecedent would appear to be the feminine noun אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) at the end of v. 24.
92. 45 Or “my inheritance” (, , ).
93. 1 Heb “In the year the commanding general came to Ashdod, when Sargon king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and captured it.” This probably refers to the Assyrian campaign against Philistia in 712 or 711 b.c.
94. 2 Heb “spoke by the hand of.”
95. 3 The word used here (עָרוֹם, ’arom) sometimes means “naked,” but here it appears to mean simply “lightly dressed,” i.e., stripped to one’s undergarments. See עָרוֹם. The term also occurs in vv. 3, 4.
96. 4 Heb “lightly dressed and barefoot, and bare with respect to the buttocks, the nakedness of Egypt.”
97. 5 Heb “and they will be afraid and embarrassed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their beauty.”
98. 6 Heb “in that day” (so ).
99. 7 This probably refers to the coastal region of Philistia (cf. ).
100. 1 The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “desert” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like a desolate desert.
101. 2 Or “in the Negev” ().
102. 3 Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”
103. 4 This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
104. 5 Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”
105. 6 Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. “I am bowed down.”
106. 7 Heb “wanders,” perhaps here, “is confused.”
107. 8 Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”
108. 9 The precise meaning of the verb in this line is debated. Some prefer to derive the form from the homonymic צָפֹה (tsafoh, “keep watch”) and translate “post a guard” (cf. “watch in the watchtower”; “set the watch”).
109. 10 The verbal forms in the first three lines are infinitives absolute, which are functioning here as finite verbs. It is uncertain if the forms should have an imperatival or indicative/descriptive force here.
110. 11 Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (), 1:.
111. 12 The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
112. 13 Or “a pair of horsemen.”
113. 14 The Hebrew text has, “the lion,” but this makes little sense here. אַרְיֵה (’aryeh, “lion”) is probably a corruption of an original הָרֹאֶה (haro’eh, “the one who sees”), i.e., the guard mentioned previously in v. 6.
114. 15 The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay). Some translations take this to refer to the Lord (cf. , , ), while others take it to refer to the guard’s human master (“my lord”; cf. , ).
115. 16 Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”
116. 17 Heb “and he answered and said” (so , ).