Isaiah 16:5

16:5 Then a trustworthy king will be established;

he will rule in a reliable manner,

this one from David’s family. ¹ 

He will be sure to make just decisions

and will be experienced in executing justice. ² 

Isaiah 40:6

40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”

Another asks, ³  “What should I cry out?”

The first voice responds: ⁴  “All people are like grass, ⁵ 

and all their promises ⁶  are like the flowers in the field.

Isaiah 54:10

54:10 Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship ⁷  be displaced,”

says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 55:3

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ⁸ 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ⁹  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 57:1

57:1 The godly ¹¹  perish,

but no one cares. ¹² 

Honest people disappear, ¹³ 

when no one ¹⁴  minds ¹⁵ 

that the godly ¹⁶  disappear ¹⁷  because of ¹⁸  evil. ¹⁹ 

[16:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and a throne will be established in faithfulness, and he will sit on it in reliability, in the tent of David.”

[16:5]  ² tn Heb “one who judges and seeks justice, and one experienced in fairness.” Many understand מְהִר (mÿhir) to mean “quick, prompt” (see BDB 555 s.v. מָהִיר), but HALOT 552 s.v. מָהִיר offers the meaning “skillful, experienced,” and translates the phrase in v. 5 “zealous for what is right.”

[40:6]  ³ tn Heb “and he says.” Apparently a second “voice” responds to the command of the first “voice.”

[40:6]  ⁴ tn The words “the first voice responds” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first voice tells the second one what to declare.

[40:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “all flesh is grass.” The point of the metaphor is explained in v. 7.

[40:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “and all his loyalty.” The antecedent of the third masculine suffix is בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”), which refers collectively to mankind. The LXX, apparently understanding the antecedent as “grass,” reads “glory,” but חֶסֶד (khesed) rarely, if ever, has this nuance. The normal meaning of חֶסֶד (“faithfulness, loyalty, devotion”) fits very well in the argument. Human beings and their faithfulness (verbal expressions of faithfulness are specifically in view; cf. NRSV “constancy”) are short-lived and unreliable, in stark contrast to the decrees and promises of the eternal God.

[54:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”

[55:3]  ⁷ tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  ⁸ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[57:1]  ⁹ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”

[57:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”

[57:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”

[57:1]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.

[57:1]  ¹³ tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”

[57:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”

[57:1]  ¹⁶ tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).

[57:1]  ¹⁷ tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.