50:22 Carefully consider this, you who reject God! 1
Otherwise I will rip you to shreds 2
and no one will be able to rescue you.
50:2 From Zion, the most beautiful of all places, 3
God comes in splendor. 4
For the music director; a psalm of David.
13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? 6
How long will you pay no attention to me? 7
41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? 8
Who 9 officially commissions him for service? 10
He hands nations over to him, 11
and enables him to subdue 12 kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow. 13
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 14 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 15
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 16
41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
1 tn Heb “[you who] forget God.” “Forgetting God” here means forgetting about his commandments and not respecting his moral authority.
2 sn Elsewhere in the psalms this verb is used (within a metaphorical framework) of a lion tearing its prey (see Pss 7:2; 17:12; 22:13).
3 tn Heb “the perfection of beauty.”
4 tn Or “shines forth.”
5 sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.
6 tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”
7 tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”
8 sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).
9 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.
10 tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”
11 tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”
12 tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).
13 sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.
14 tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”
15 tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.
16 sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.