Isaiah 11:3

11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ¹ 

He will not judge by mere appearances, ² 

or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ³ 

Isaiah 29:9

God’s People are Spiritually Insensitive

29:9 You will be shocked and amazed! ⁴ 

You are totally blind! ⁵ 

They are drunk, ⁶  but not because of wine;

they stagger, ⁷  but not because of beer.

Isaiah 48:7

48:7 Now they come into being, ⁸  not in the past;

before today you did not hear about them,

so you could not say,

‘Yes, ⁹  I know about them.’

Isaiah 51:14

51:14 The one who suffers ¹⁰  will soon be released;

he will not die in prison, ¹¹ 

he will not go hungry. ¹² 

[11:3]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.

[11:3]  ² tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”

[11:3]  ³ tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”

[29:9]  ⁴ tn The form הִתְמַהְמְהוּ (hitmahmÿhu) is a Hitpalpel imperative from מָהַהּ (mahah, “hesitate”). If it is retained, one might translate “halt and be amazed.” The translation assumes an emendation to הִתַּמְּהוּ (hittammÿhu), a Hitpael imperative from תָּמַה (tamah, “be amazed”). In this case, the text, like Hab 1:5, combines the Hitpael and Qal imperatival forms of תָּמַה (tamah). A literal translation might be “Shock yourselves and be shocked!” The repetition of sound draws attention to the statement. The imperatives here have the force of an emphatic assertion. On this use of the imperative in Hebrew, see GKC 324 §110.c and IBHS 572 §34.4c.

[29:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Blind yourselves and be blind!” The Hitpalpel and Qal imperatival forms of שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blind”) are combined to draw attention to the statement. The imperatives have the force of an emphatic assertion.

[29:9]  ⁶ tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.

[29:9]  ⁷ tc Some prefer to emend the perfect form of the verb to an imperative (e.g., NAB, NCV, NRSV), since the people are addressed in the immediately preceding and following contexts.

[48:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “are created” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “They are brand new.”

[48:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “look”; KJV, NASB “Behold.”

[51:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who is stooped over” (under a burden).

[51:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the pit” (so KJV); ASV, NAB “die and go down into the pit”; NASB, NIV “dungeon”; NCV “prison.”

[51:14]  ¹² tn Heb “he will not lack his bread.”