“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,
by my strategy that I devised.
I invaded the territory of nations, 1
and looted their storehouses.
Like a mighty conqueror, 2 I brought down rulers. 3
15:5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, 4
and for the fugitives 5 stretched out 6 as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.
For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;
they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim. 7
26:19 8 Your dead will come back to life;
your corpses will rise up.
Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! 9
For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, 10
and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. 11
40:26 Look up at the sky! 15
Who created all these heavenly lights? 16
He is the one who leads out their ranks; 17
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;
all of them are trapped in pits 18
and held captive 19 in prisons.
They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;
they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” 20
65:8 This is what the Lord says:
“When 21 juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,
someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ 22
So I will do for the sake of my servants –
I will not destroy everyone. 23
1 tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”
2 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).
3 tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.
4 tn Heb “for Moab.” For rhetorical purposes the speaker (the Lord?, see v. 9) plays the role of a mourner.
5 tn The vocalization of the Hebrew text suggests “the bars of her gates,” but the form should be repointed to yield, “her fugitives.” See HALOT 156-57 s.v. בָּרִחַ, and BDB 138 s.v. בָּרִיהַ.
6 tn The words “are stretched out” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “For the ascent of Luhith, with weeping they go up it; for [on] the road to Horonaim an outcry over shattering they raise up.”
7 sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.
8 tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
9 tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.
10 sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).
10 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
11 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”
13 tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
16 tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”
17 tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.
18 tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)
19 tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).
20 tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”
21 tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”
22 tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”
23 tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”
24 tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”