Text -- Isaiah 33:9 (NET)

33:9 The land dries up and withers away; the forest of Lebanon shrivels up and decays. Sharon is like the desert; Bashan and Carmel are parched.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 33:9

¹ tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”

² 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.

³ 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.

⁴ sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.

⁵ tn Or “the Arabah” (NIV). See 35:1.

⁶ sn Both of these areas were known for their trees and vegetation. See 2:13; 35:2.

⁷ tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”