Isaiah 18:2

Footnotes

1. 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.
2. 3 Heb “from it and onwards.” הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”
3. 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.
4. 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.”