11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. 1
He will not judge by mere appearances, 2
or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. 3
33:6 He is your constant source of stability; 4
he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; 5
he gives all this to those who fear him. 6
63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray 7 from your ways, 8
and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? 9
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance!
1 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.
2 tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”
3 tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”
4 tn Heb “and he is the stability of your times.”
5 tn Heb “a rich store of deliverance, wisdom, and knowledge.”
6 tn Heb “the fear of the Lord, it is his treasure.”
7 tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.
8 tn This probably refers to God’s commands.
9 tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).