17:2 The cities of Aroer are abandoned. 1
They will be used for herds,
which will lie down there in peace. 2
11:7 A cow and a bear will graze together,
their young will lie down together. 3
A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.
14:30 The poor will graze in my pastures; 4
the needy will rest securely.
But I will kill your root by famine;
it will put to death all your survivors. 5
54:11 “O afflicted one, driven away, 6 and unconsoled!
Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony
and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.
11:6 A wolf will reside 7 with a lamb,
and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;
an ox and a young lion will graze together, 8
as a small child leads them along.
13:20 No one will live there again;
no one will ever reside there again. 9
No bedouin 10 will camp 11 there,
no shepherds will rest their flocks 12 there.
13:21 Wild animals will rest there,
the ruined 13 houses will be full of hyenas. 14
Ostriches will live there,
wild goats will skip among the ruins. 15
27:10 For the fortified city 16 is left alone;
it is a deserted settlement
and abandoned like the desert.
Calves 17 graze there;
they lie down there
and eat its branches bare. 18
1 tn Three cities are known by this name in the OT: (1) an Aroer located near the Arnon, (2) an Aroer in Ammon, and (3) an Aroer of Judah. (See BDB 792-93 s.v. עֲרֹעֵר, and HALOT 883 s.v. II עֲרוֹעֵר.) There is no mention of an Aroer in Syrian territory. For this reason some want to emend the text here to עֲזֻבוֹת עָרַיהָ עֲדֵי עַד (’azuvot ’arayha ’adey ’ad, “her cities are permanently abandoned”). However, Aroer near the Arnon was taken by Israel and later conquered by the Syrians. (See Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16; Judg 11:26; 2 Kgs 10:33). This oracle pertains to Israel as well as Syria (note v. 3), so it is possible that this is a reference to Israelite and/or Syrian losses in Transjordan.
2 tn Heb “and they lie down and there is no one scaring [them].”
3 tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze – together – they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhddav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.
5 tc The Hebrew text has, “the firstborn of the poor will graze.” “Firstborn” may be used here in an idiomatic sense to indicate the very poorest of the poor. See BDB 114 s.v. בְּכוֹר. The translation above assumes an emendation of בְּכוֹרֵי (bÿkhorey, “firstborn of”) to בְּכָרַי (bekharay, “in my pastures”).
6 tn Heb “your remnant” (so NAB, NRSV).
7 tn Or, more literally, “windblown, storm tossed.”
9 tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident alien in another society.
10 tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umÿri’, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimrÿ’u, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsaa). The present translation assumes this change.
11 tn Heb “she will not be inhabited forever, and she will not be dwelt in to generation and generation (i.e., forever).” The Lord declares that Babylon, personified as a woman, will not be inhabited. In other words, her people will be destroyed and the Chaldean empire will come to a permanent end.
12 tn Or “Arab” (NAB, NASB, NIV); cf. CEV, NLT “nomads.”
13 tn יַהֵל (yahel) is probably a corrupted form of יֶאֱהַל (ye’ehal). See GKC 186 §68.k.
14 tn The words “their flocks” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text does not supply the object here, but see Jer 33:12.
13 tn The word “ruined” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
14 tn The precise referent of this word in uncertain. See HALOT 29 s.v. *אֹחַ. Various English versions translate as “owls” (e.g., NAB, NASB), “wild dogs” (NCV); “jackals” (NIV); “howling creatures” (NRSV, NLT).
15 tn Heb “will skip there.”
15 sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.
16 tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.
17 tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.