28:23 Pay attention and listen to my message! 1
Be attentive and listen to what I have to say! 2
32:9 You complacent 3 women,
get up and listen to me!
You carefree 4 daughters,
pay attention to what I say!
38:10 “I thought, 5
‘In the middle of my life 6 I must walk through the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived 7 of the rest of my years.’
22:4 So I say:
“Don’t look at me! 8
I am weeping bitterly.
Don’t try 9 to console me
concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.” 10
38:11 “I thought,
‘I will no longer see the Lord 12 in the land of the living,
I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world. 13
45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place. 14
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’ 15
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements. 16
49:4 But I thought, 17 “I have worked in vain;
I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” 18
But the Lord will vindicate me;
my God will reward me. 19
65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; 20
I appeared to those who did not look for me. 21
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation that did not invoke 22 my name.
1 tn Heb “to my voice.”
2 tn Heb “to my word”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “hear my speech.”
3 tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”
4 tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”
5 tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
6 tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).
7 tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”
7 tn Heb “look away from me” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).
8 tn Heb “don’t hurry” (so NCV).
9 tn Heb “the daughter of my people.” “Daughter” is here used metaphorically to express the speaker’s emotional attachment to his people, as well as their vulnerability and weakness.
9 tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.
11 tn The Hebrew text has יָהּ יָהּ (yah yah, the abbreviated form of יְהוָה [yÿhvah] repeated), but this is probably a corruption of יְהוָה.
12 tc The Hebrew text has חָדֶל (khadel), which appears to be derived from a verbal root meaning “to cease, refrain.” But the form has probably suffered an error of transmission; the original form (attested in a few medieval Hebrew
13 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
14 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
15 tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”
15 tn Or “said” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “I replied.”
16 tn Heb “for nothing and emptiness.” Synonyms are combined to emphasize the common idea.
17 tn Heb “But my justice is with the Lord, and my reward [or “wage”] with my God.”
17 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”
18 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”
19 tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”