march over it any more. The author may be thinking of trade routes (but see K. Elliger, Deuterojesaja, BK XI/1, 18). If taken all by itself, v. 23b* could mean: “And the Egyptians will serve Assyria”; in context, however (see v. 21*), עבד (serve) has to be treated as an intransitive here and את as a preposition (= with); to be sure, this is the only passage where the verb is used in the absolute sense (“join together in a worship service”). However, since עֲבֹדָה was used in a special way to describe
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