Text -- Isaiah 18:1 (NET)

The Lord Will Judge a Distant Land in the South

18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 18:1

¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

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.