40:2 “Speak kindly to 1 Jerusalem, 2 and tell her
that her time of warfare is over, 3
that her punishment is completed. 4
For the Lord has made her pay double 5 for all her sins.”
50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call? 6
Is my hand too weak 7 to deliver 8 you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout 9 I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water. 10
66:4 So I will choose severe punishment 11 for them;
I will bring on them what they dread,
because I called, and no one responded,
I spoke and they did not listen.
They did evil before me; 12
they chose to do what displeases me.”
1 tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
3 tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.
4 tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”
5 tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).
6 sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.
7 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
8 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
9 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
10 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”
11 tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”
12 tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”