Isaiah 27:2

27:2 When that time comes,

sing about a delightful vineyard!

Isaiah 1:30

1:30 For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither,

like an orchard that is unwatered.

Isaiah 51:18

51:18 There was no one to lead her

among all the children she bore;

there was no one to take her by the hand

among all the children she raised.

Isaiah 66:7

66:7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!

Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!

Isaiah 29:7

29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.

There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel,

those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.

Isaiah 34:14

34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there;

wild goats will bleat to one another.

Yes, nocturnal animals will rest there

and make for themselves a nest.

Isaiah 35:8

35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –

it will be called the Way of Holiness.

The unclean will not travel on it;

it is reserved for those authorized to use it

fools 10  will not stray into it.

Isaiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) 11  The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. 12 

In earlier times he 13  humiliated

the land of Zebulun,

and the land of Naphtali; 14 

but now he brings honor 15 

to the way of the sea,

the region beyond the Jordan,

and Galilee of the nations. 16 

Isaiah 35:2

35:2 Let it richly bloom; 17 

let it rejoice and shout with delight! 18 

It is given the grandeur 19  of Lebanon,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.

They will see the grandeur of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.


tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

tn Heb “vineyard of delight,” or “vineyard of beauty.” Many medieval mss read כֶּרֶם חֶמֶר (kerem khemer, “vineyard of wine”), i.e., “a productive vineyard.”

tn Or “a garden” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”

tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”

tn The precise meaning of לִּילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”

tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”

tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.

tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.

tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.

sn In the Hebrew text (BHS) the chapter division comes one verse later than in the English Bible; 9:1 (8:23 HT). Thus 9:2-21 in the English Bible = 9:1-20 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

10 tn The Hebrew text reads, “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her.” The feminine singular pronominal suffix “her” must refer to the land (cf. vv. 22a, 23b). So one could translate, “Indeed there will be no gloom for the land which was anxious.” In this case the statement introduces the positive message to follow. Some assume an emendation of לֹא (lo’, “no”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and of לָהּ (lah, “to her”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”), yielding this literal reading: “indeed there is gloom for him, for the one to whom there was anxiety for him.” In this case the statement concludes the preceding description of judgment.

11 tn The Lord must be understood as the subject of the two verbs in this verse.

12 sn The statement probably alludes to the Assyrian conquest of Israel in ca. 734-733 b.c., when Tiglath-pileser III annexed much of Israel’s territory and reduced Samaria to a puppet state.

13 tn Heb Just as in earlier times he humiliated…, [in] the latter times he has brought honor.” The main verbs in vv. 1b-4 are Hebrew perfects. The prophet takes his rhetorical stance in the future age of restoration and describes future events as if they have already occurred. To capture the dramatic effect of the original text, the translation uses the English present or present perfect.

14 sn These three geographical designations may refer to provinces established by the Assyrians in 734-733 b.c. The “way of the sea” is the province of Dor, along the Mediterranean coast, the “region beyond the Jordan” is the province of Gilead in Transjordan, and “Galilee of the nations” (a title that alludes to how the territory had been overrun by foreigners) is the province of Megiddo located west of the Sea of Galilee. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 374.

11 tn The ambiguous verb form תִּפְרַח (tifrakh) is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel).

12 tn Heb “and let it rejoice, yes [with] rejoicing and shouting.” גִּילַת (gilat) may be an archaic feminine nominal form (see GKC 421 §130.b).

13 tn Or “glory” (KJV, NIV, NRSV); also a second time later in this verse.