42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed 1
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands 2 will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” 3
42:10 Sing to the Lord a brand new song!
Praise him 4 from the horizon of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, 5
you coastlands 6 and those who live there!
49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! 7
Pay attention, you people who live far away!
The Lord summoned me from birth; 8
he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 9
51:5 I am ready to vindicate, 10
I am ready to deliver, 11
I will establish justice among the nations. 12
The coastlands 13 wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 14
9:27 May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! 24
May he live 25 in the tents of Shem
and may Canaan be his slave!”
10:2 The sons of Japheth 26 were Gomer, 27 Magog, 28 Madai, 29 Javan, 30 Tubal, 31 Meshech, 32 and Tiras. 33 10:3 The sons of Gomer were 34 Askenaz, 35 Riphath, 36 and Togarmah. 37 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, 38 Tarshish, 39 the Kittim, 40 and the Dodanim. 41 10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.
72:10 The kings of Tarshish 42 and the coastlands will offer gifts;
the kings of Sheba 43 and Seba 44 will bring tribute.
2:11 The Lord will terrify them, 45
for 46 he will weaken 47 all the gods of the earth.
All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. 48
1 tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.
2 tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”
3 tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).
4 tn Heb “his praise.” The phrase stands parallel to “new song” in the previous line.
5 tn Heb “and its fullness”; NASB, NIV “and all that is in it.”
6 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “distant coastlands.”
7 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”
8 tn Heb “called me from the womb.”
9 tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”
10 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”
11 tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”
12 tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”
13 tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”
14 tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).
15 tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).
16 tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).
17 sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).
18 tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).
19 sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).
20 tn Or “islands” (NIV).
21 tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”
22 tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
23 tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.
24 tn Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
25 tn In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).
26 sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.
27 sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.
28 sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.
29 sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.
30 sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.
31 sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
32 sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.
33 sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.
34 sn The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.
35 sn Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 63.
36 sn The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.
37 sn Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 26, n. 28.
38 sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.
39 sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.
40 sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.
41 tc Most of the MT
42 sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.
43 sn Sheba was located in Arabia.
44 sn Seba was located in Africa.
45 tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”
46 tn Or “certainly.”
47 tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”
48 tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”