Isaiah 16:1-2

16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, ¹ 

from Sela in the desert ² 

to the hill of Daughter Zion.

16:2 At the fords of the Arnon ³ 

the Moabite women are like a bird

that flies about when forced from its nest. ⁴ 

Isaiah 20:1

20:1 The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it. ⁵ 

Isaiah 32:20

32:20 you will be blessed,

you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, ⁶ 

you who let your ox and donkey graze. ⁷ 

Isaiah 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ⁸  to your king, ⁹ 

along with many perfumes. ¹⁰ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ¹¹ 

[16:1]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Send [a plural imperatival form is used] a ram [to] the ruler of the land.” The term כַּר (kar, “ram”) should be emended to the plural כָּרִים (karim). The singular form in the text is probably the result of haplography; note that the next word begins with a mem (מ).

[16:1]  ² tn The Hebrew text has “toward [across?] the desert.”

[16:2]  ³ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a bird fleeing, thrust away [from] a nest, the daughters of Moab are [at] the fords of Arnon.”

[20:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “In the year the commanding general came to Ashdod, when Sargon king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and captured it.”

[32:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “by all the waters.”

[32:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”

[57:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ¹² sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.