33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, 1
and you will ask yourselves, 2 “Where is the scribe?
Where is the one who weighs the money?
Where is the one who counts the towers?” 3
40:12 Who has measured out the waters 4 in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully 5 measured the sky, 6
or carefully weighed 7 the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales? 8
46:6 Those who empty out gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on the scale 9
hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.
They then bow down and worship it.
55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? 10
Why spend 11 your hard-earned money 12 on something that will not satisfy?
Listen carefully 13 to me and eat what is nourishing! 14
Enjoy fine food! 15
1 tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”
2 tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
3 sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.
4 tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.
5 tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).
6 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
7 tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”
8 sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.
7 tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.
10 tn Heb “for what is not food.”
11 tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
12 tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.
13 tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.
14 tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
15 tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”