24:15 So in the east 1 extol the Lord,
along the seacoasts extol 2 the fame 3 of the Lord God of Israel.
24:16 From the ends of the earth we 4 hear songs –
the Just One is majestic. 5
But I 6 say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!
Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” 7
42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed 8
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands 9 will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” 10
43:6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’
and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’
Bring my sons from distant lands,
and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,
49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! 11
Pay attention, you people who live far away!
The Lord summoned me from birth; 12
he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 13
49:12 Look, they come from far away!
Look, some come from the north and west,
and others from the land of Sinim! 14
51:5 I am ready to vindicate, 15
I am ready to deliver, 16
I will establish justice among the nations. 17
The coastlands 18 wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 19
72:10 The kings of Tarshish 20 and the coastlands will offer gifts;
the kings of Sheba 21 and Seba 22 will bring tribute.
2:11 The Lord will terrify them, 23
for 24 he will weaken 25 all the gods of the earth.
All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. 26
1 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “in the lights,” interpreted by some to mean “in the region of light,” referring to the east. Some scholars have suggested the emendation of בָּאֻרִים (ba’urim) to בְּאִיֵּי הַיָּם (bÿ’iyyey hayyam, “along the seacoasts”), a phrase that is repeated in the next line. In this case, the two lines form synonymous parallelism. If one retains the MT reading (as above), “in the east” and “along the seacoasts” depict the two ends of the earth to refer to all the earth (as a merism).
2 tn The word “extol” is supplied in the translation; the verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.
3 tn Heb “name,” which here stands for God’s reputation achieved by his mighty deeds.
4 sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.
5 tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.
6 sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.
7 tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”
8 tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.
9 tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”
10 tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).
11 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”
12 tn Heb “called me from the womb.”
13 tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”
14 tc The MT reads “Sinim” here; the Dead Sea Scrolls read “Syene,” a location in Egypt associated with modern Aswan. A number of recent translations adopt this reading: “Syene” (NAB, NRSV); “Aswan” (NIV); “Egypt” (NLT).
15 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”
16 tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”
17 tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”
18 tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”
19 tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).
20 sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.
21 sn Sheba was located in Arabia.
22 sn Seba was located in Africa.
23 tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”
24 tn Or “certainly.”
25 tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”
26 tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”