Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:11
Context1:11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?” 1
says the Lord.
“I am stuffed with 2 burnt sacrifices
of rams and the fat from steers.
The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats
I do not want. 3
Isaiah 38:1
Context38:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. 4 The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’”
Isaiah 44:19
Context44:19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire –
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 5
Isaiah 44:26
Context44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants 6
and brings to pass the announcements 7 of his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, 8 ‘She will be inhabited,’
and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,
her ruins I will raise up,’
Isaiah 47:8
Context47:8 So now, listen to this,
O one who lives so lavishly, 9
who lives securely,
who says to herself, 10
‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! 11
I will never have to live as a widow;
I will never lose my children.’ 12
Isaiah 54:1
Context54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!
Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one are more numerous
than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 66:20
Context66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen 13 from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them 14 on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels 15 to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers.
[1:11] 1 tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”
[1:11] 2 tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.
[1:11] 3 sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.
[38:1] 4 tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying”; NRSV “became sick and was at the point of death.”
[44:19] 7 tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.
[44:26] 10 tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.
[44:26] 11 tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (’etsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.
[44:26] 12 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[47:8] 13 tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”
[47:8] 14 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
[47:8] 15 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.
[47:8] 16 tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”
[66:20] 16 tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”
[66:20] 17 tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[66:20] 18 tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.
