19:10 They are of greater value 1 than gold,
than even a great amount of pure gold;
they bring greater delight 2 than honey,
than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.
119:72 The law you have revealed is more important to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. 3
8:10 Receive my instruction 4 rather than 5 silver,
and knowledge rather than choice gold.
16:16 How much better it is to acquire 6 wisdom than gold;
to acquire understanding is more desirable 7 than silver.
60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,
instead of iron, I will bring you silver,
instead of wood, I will bring you 8 bronze,
instead of stones, I will bring you 9 iron.
I will make prosperity 10 your overseer,
and vindication your sovereign ruler. 11
60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor 12 of the Lord shines on you!
4:6 By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat,
as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour. 13
4:2 At that time 14
the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; 15
the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight
to those who remain in Israel. 16
2:20 At that time 17 men will throw
their silver and gold idols,
which they made for themselves to worship, 18
into the caves where rodents and bats live, 19
2:1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem 20 that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz. 21
1:7 Your land is devastated,
your cities burned with fire.
Right before your eyes your crops
are being destroyed by foreign invaders. 22
They leave behind devastation and destruction. 23
1 tn Heb “more desirable.”
2 tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).
3 tn Heb “better to me [is] the law of your mouth than thousands of gold and silver.”
4 tn Heb “discipline.” The term refers to instruction that trains with discipline (e.g., Prov 1:2).
5 tn Heb “and not” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in preference to.”
6 tn The form קְנֹה (qÿnoh) is an infinitive; the Greek version apparently took it as a participle, and the Latin as an imperative – both working with an unpointed קנה, the letter ה (he) being unexpected in the form if it is an infinitive construct (the parallel clause has קְנוֹת [qÿnot] for the infinitive, but the ancient versions also translate that as either a participle or an imperative).
7 tn The form is a Niphal participle, masculine singular. If it is modifying “understanding” it should be a feminine form. If it is to be translated, it would have to be rendered “and to acquire understanding is to be chosen more than silver” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). Many commentaries consider it superfluous. NIV and NCV simply have “to choose understanding rather than silver!”
8 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).
9 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).
10 tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).
11 tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.
12 tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).
13 tn Heb “a shelter it will be for shade by day from heat, and for a place of refuge and for a hiding place from cloudburst and rain.” Since both of the last nouns of this verse can mean rain, they can either refer to the rain storm and the rain as distinct items or together refer to a heavy downpour. Regardless, they do not represent unrelated phenomena.
14 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
15 tn Heb “and the vegetation of the Lord will become beauty and honor.” Many English versions understand the phrase צֶמַח יְהוָה (tsemakh yÿhvah) as a messianic reference and render it, “the Branch of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and others). Though צֶמַח (tsemakh) is used by later prophets of a royal descendant (Jer 23;5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12), those passages contain clear contextual indicators that a human ruler is in view and that the word is being used in a metaphorical way of offspring. However, in Isa 4:2 there are no such contextual indicators. To the contrary, in the parallel structure of the verse צֶמַח יְהוָה corresponds to “produce of the land,” a phrase that refers elsewhere exclusively to literal agricultural produce (see Num 13:20, 26; Deut 1:25). In the majority of its uses צֶמַח refers to literal crops or vegetation (in Ps 65:10 the Lord is the source of this vegetation). A reference to the Lord restoring crops would make excellent sense in Isa 4 and the prophets frequently included this theme in their visions of the future age (see Isa 30:23-24; 32:20; Jer 31:12; Ezek 34:26-29; and Amos 9:13-14).
16 tn Heb “and the fruit of the land will become pride and beauty for the remnant of Israel.”
17 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
18 tn Or “bow down to.”
19 tn Heb “to the shrews and to the bats.” On the meaning of חֲפַרְפָּרָה (khafarparah, “shrew”), see HALOT 341 s.v. חֲפַרְפָּרָה. The BHS text as it stands (לַחְפֹּר פֵּרוֹת, perot lakhpor), makes no sense. Based on Theodotion’s transliteration and a similar reading in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, most scholars suggest that the MT mistakenly divided a noun (a hapax legomenon) that should be translated “moles,” “shrews,” or “rodents.”
20 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
21 tn Heb “the word which Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”
22 tn Heb “As for your land, before you foreigners are devouring it.”
23 tn Heb “and [there is] devastation like an overthrow by foreigners.” The comparative preposition כְּ (kÿ, “like, as”) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the land has all the earmarks of a destructive foreign invasion because that is what has indeed happened. One could paraphrase, “it is desolate as it can only be when foreigners destroy.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x. Many also prefer to emend “foreigners” here to “Sodom,” though there is no external attestation for such a reading in the
24 tn Grk “I counsel you to buy.”
25 tn Grk “rich, and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation, repeating the words “Buy from me” to make the connection clear for the English reader.
26 tn Grk “the shame of the nakedness of you,” which has been translated as an attributed genitive like καινότητι ζωῆς (kainothti zwh") in Rom 6:4 (ExSyn 89-90).
27 sn The city of Laodicea had a famous medical school and exported a powder (called a “Phrygian powder”) that was widely used as an eye salve. It was applied to the eyes in the form of a paste the consistency of dough (the Greek term for the salve here, κολλούριον, kollourion [Latin collyrium], is a diminutive form of the word for a long roll of bread).