49:24 But his bow will remain steady,
and his hands 1 will be skillful;
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of 2 the Shepherd, the Rock 3 of Israel,
10:25 When the storm 4 passes through, the wicked are swept away, 5
but the righteous are an everlasting foundation. 6
2:6 His left hand caresses my head, 7
and his right hand stimulates me. 8
26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, 9
even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! 10
26:1 At that time 11 this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city!
The Lord’s 12 deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. 13
1:5 14 Why do you insist on being battered?
Why do you continue to rebel? 15
Your head has a massive wound, 16
your whole body is weak. 17
1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, 18 and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, 19 without blemish 20 before his glorious presence, 21
1 tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”
2 tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”
3 tn Or “Stone.”
4 sn The word for “storm wind” comes from the root סוּף (suf, “to come to an end; to cease”). The noun may then describe the kind of storm that makes an end of things, a “whirlwind” (so KJV, NASB; NLT “cyclone”). It is used in prophetic passages that describe swift judgment and destruction.
5 tn Heb “the wicked are not”; ASV, NAB, NASB “is no more.”
6 tn Heb “a foundation forever”; NLT “have a lasting foundation.”
7 tn Heb “His left hand is under my head.” Ultimately, the only cure for her love-sickness is the caress of her beloved. The ancient Near Eastern love songs frequently portray the embrace of the lover as the only cure for the speaker’s love-sickness. For example, one Egyptian love song reads: “She will make the doctors unnecessary, because she knows my sickness” (Papyrus Harris 4:11). Similarly, “My salvation is her coming in from outside; when I see her, I will be healthy. When she opens her eye, my body is young; when she speaks, I will be strong. When I embrace her, she exorcises evil from me” (Papyrus Chester Beatty, C5:1-2).
8 tn Heb “embraces.” Alternately, “May his left hand be under my head, and [may] his right hand embrace me.” The verb חָבַק (khavaq) has a two-fold range of meanings in the Piel stem: (1) to embrace or hug someone (Gen 29:13; 33:4; 48:10; Job 24:8; Prov 4:8; Eccl 3:5; Lam 4:5) and (2) to fondle or sexually stimulate a lover (Prov 5:20; Song 2:6; 8:3) (HALOT 287 s.v. חבק; BDB 287 s.v. חָבַק). The verb designates an expression of love by the position or action of one’s hands (TWOT 1:259). The term is probably used here as a euphemism. The function of the prefixed verbal form of תְּחַבְּקֵנִי (tÿkhabbÿqeni, “embrace me”) may be classified several ways: (1) ingressive: “His right hand is beginning to stimulate me,” (2) instantaneous: “His right hand is stimulating me [right now],” (3) progressive: “His right hand stimulates me,” (4) jussive of desire: “May his right hand stimulate me!” (5) injunction: “Let his right hand stimulate me!” or (6) permission: “His right hand may stimulate me.” Based upon their view that the couple is not yet married, some scholars argue for an imperfect of desire (“May his right hand stimulate/embrace me!”). Other scholars suggest that the progressive imperfect is used (“His right hand stimulates me”). For a striking parallel, see S. N. Kramer, The Sacred Marriage Rite, 105.
9 tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (’ade-’ad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.
10 tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki yÿhvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsaa) confirms the MT reading as well.
11 tn Heb “In that day” (so KJV).
12 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “deliverance he makes walls and a rampart.”
14 sn In vv. 5-9 Isaiah addresses the battered nation (5-8) and speaks as their representative (9).
15 tn Heb “Why are you still beaten? [Why] do you continue rebellion?” The rhetorical questions express the prophet’s disbelief over Israel’s apparent masochism and obsession with sin. The interrogative construction in the first line does double duty in the parallelism. H. Wildberger (Isaiah, 1:18) offers another alternative by translating the two statements with one question: “Why do you still wish to be struck that you persist in revolt?”
16 tn Heb “all the head is ill”; NRSV “the whole head is sick”; CEV “Your head is badly bruised.”
17 tn Heb “and all the heart is faint.” The “heart” here stands for bodily strength and energy, as suggested by the context and usage elsewhere (see Jer 8:18; Lam 1:22).
18 tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “free from falling” is the adjectival complement.
19 tn Grk “with rejoicing.” The prepositional clause is placed after “his glorious presence” in Greek, but most likely goes with “cause you to stand.”
20 tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.
21 tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”