Isaiah 16:11

16:11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, ¹ 

my inner being sighs ²  for Kir Hareseth. ³ 

Isaiah 48:19

48:19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, ⁴ 

and your children ⁵  like its granules.

Their name would not have been cut off

and eliminated from my presence. ⁶ 

Isaiah 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ⁷ 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ⁸ 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ⁹ 

Isaiah 63:15

63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,

from your holy, majestic palace!

Where are your zeal ¹⁰  and power?

Do not hold back your tender compassion! ¹¹ 

[16:11]  ¹ tn Heb “so my intestines sigh for Moab like a harp.” The word מֵעַי (me’ay, “intestines”) is used here of the seat of the emotions. English idiom requires the word “heart.” The point of the comparison to a harp is not entirely clear. Perhaps his sighs of mourning resemble a harp in sound, or his constant sighing is like the repetitive strumming of a harp.

[16:11]  ² tn The verb is supplied in the translation; “sighs” in the preceding line does double duty in the parallel structure.

[16:11]  ³ tn Heb “Kir Heres” (so ASV, NRSV, TEV, CEV), a variant name for “Kir Hareseth” (see v. 7).

[48:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”

[48:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”

[48:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”

[49:1]  ⁷ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”

[63:15]  ¹⁰ tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.

[63:15]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.