Isaiah 10:1

10:1 Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead,

those who are always instituting unfair regulations,

Isaiah 41:29

41:29 Look, all of them are nothing,

their accomplishments are nonexistent;

their metal images lack any real substance.


tn Heb “Woe [to] those who decree evil decrees.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

tn Heb “[to] the writers who write out harm.” The participle and verb are in the Piel, suggesting repetitive action.

tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.

tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”