13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. 1
Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. 2
Do it before you stumble 3 into distress
like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. 4
Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for
into the darkness and gloom of exile. 5
8:14 He will become a sanctuary, 6
but a stone that makes a person trip,
and a rock that makes one stumble –
to the two houses of Israel. 7
He will become 8 a trap and a snare
to the residents of Jerusalem. 9
3:20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle 10 before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death.
“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble
and a rock that will make them fall, 11
yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12
11:9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
1 tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the
2 tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.
3 tn Heb “your feet stumble.”
4 tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.
5 tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.
6 tn Because the metaphor of protection (“sanctuary”) does not fit the negative mood that follows in vv. 14b-15, some contend that מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “sanctuary”) is probably a corruption of an original מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), a word that appears in the next line (cf. NAB and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:355-56). If the MT reading is retained (as in the above translation), the fact that Yahweh is a sanctuary wraps up the point of v. 13 and stands in contrast to God’s treatment of those who rebel against him (the rest of v. 14).
7 sn The two “houses” of Israel (= the patriarch Jacob) are the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
8 tn These words are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. וְהָיָה (vÿhayah, “and he will be”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.
9 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
10 tn Or “stumbling block.” The Hebrew term refers to an obstacle in the road in Lev 19:14.
11 tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”
12 sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.
13 tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.
14 tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”
15 tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”