Text -- Isaiah 32:1-16 (NET)

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; officials will promote justice. 32:2 Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from a rainstorm; like streams of water in a dry region and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land. 32:3 Eyes will no longer be blind and ears will be attentive. 32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity. 32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable; a deceiver will no longer be called principled. 32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; his mind plans out sinful deeds. He commits godless deeds and says misleading things about the Lord; he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. 32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; he dreams up evil plans to ruin the poor with lies, even when the needy are in the right. 32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans; his honorable character gives him security.

The Lord Will Give True Security

32:9 You complacent women, get up and listen to me! You carefree daughters, pay attention to what I say! 32:10 In a year’s time you carefree ones will shake with fear, for the grape harvest will fail, and the fruit harvest will not arrive. 32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones! Shake with fear, you carefree ones! Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves– put sackcloth on your waist! 32:12 Mourn over the field, over the delightful fields and the fruitful vine! 32:13 Mourn over the land of my people, which is overgrown with thorns and briers, and over all the once-happy houses in the city filled with revelry. 32:14 For the fortress is neglected; the once-crowded city is abandoned. Hill and watchtower are permanently uninhabited. Wild donkeys love to go there, and flocks graze there. 32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. Then the desert will become an orchard and the orchard will be considered a forest. 32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert and fairness will live in the orchard.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 32:1

¹ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

² tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

NET Notes: Isa 32:2

¹ tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.

NET Notes: Isa 32:3

¹ tn Heb “Eyes that see.”

² tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (tÿsho’enah) from שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.

³ tn Heb “ears that hear.”

NET Notes: Isa 32:4

¹ tn Heb “the heart of rashness will understand knowledge”; cf. NAB “The flighty will become wise and capable.”

NET Notes: Isa 32:6

¹ tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

² tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

³ tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

⁴ tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

⁵ tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”

NET Notes: Isa 32:7

¹ tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”

² tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”

³ tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”

NET Notes: Isa 32:8

¹ tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”

NET Notes: Isa 32:9

¹ tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”

² tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”

NET Notes: Isa 32:10

¹ tn Heb “days upon a year.”

² tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.

NET Notes: Isa 32:11

¹ tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khirdu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, sha’anannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, rÿgazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, pÿshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ’orah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khirdu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “aramaized” forms.

NET Notes: Isa 32:12

¹ tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (sÿfodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).

NET Notes: Isa 32:13

¹ tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

² tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.

³ sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.

NET Notes: Isa 32:14

¹ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

² tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

³ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

⁴ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

NET Notes: Isa 32:15

¹ tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (’arah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.

² sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.

NET Notes: Isa 32:16

¹ sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.