32:14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded 1 city is abandoned.
Hill 2 and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited. 3
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there. 4
58:2 They seek me day after day;
they want to know my requirements, 5
like a nation that does what is right
and does not reject the law of their God.
They ask me for just decrees;
they want to be near God.
1 tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).
2 tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.
3 tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.
4 tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”
5 tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”