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 55:1

The Lord Gives an Invitation

55:1 “Hey, ⁴  all who are thirsty, come to the water!

You who have no money, come!

Buy and eat!

Come! Buy wine and milk

without money and without cost! ⁵ 

Isaiah 47:10

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; ⁶ 

you thought, ⁷  ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed ⁸  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ⁹ 

Isaiah 61:11

61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops

and a garden yields its produce,

so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance ¹⁰  to grow,

and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 50:11

50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire

and who equip yourselves with ¹²  flaming arrows, ¹³ 

walk ¹⁴  in the light ¹⁵  of the fire you started

and among the flaming arrows you ignited! ¹⁶ 

This is what you will receive from me: ¹⁷ 

you will lie down in a place of pain. ¹⁸ 

[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).

[55:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments and is often prefixed to judgment oracles for rhetorical effect. But here it appears to be a simple interjection, designed to grab the audience’s attention. Perhaps there is a note of sorrow or pity. See BDB 223 s.v.

[55:1]  ⁵ sn The statement is an oxymoron. Its ironic quality adds to its rhetorical impact. The statement reminds one of the norm (one must normally buy commodities) as it expresses the astounding offer. One might paraphrase the statement: “Come and take freely what you normally have to pay for.”

[47:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”

[47:10]  ⁸ tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”

[47:10]  ⁹ tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[47:10]  ¹⁰ tn See the note at v. 8.

[61:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).

[61:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”

[50:11]  ¹³ tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).

[50:11]  ¹⁴ tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.

[50:11]  ¹⁵ tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.

[50:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).

[50:11]  ¹⁷ sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.

[50:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[50:11]  ¹⁹ sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.