Isaiah 18:2

18:2 that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, ¹ 

to a people that are feared far and wide, ² 

to a nation strong and victorious, ³ 

whose land rivers divide. ⁴ 

Isaiah 28:15

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ⁵  we have made an agreement. ⁶ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ⁷ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ⁸ 

Isaiah 36:12

36:12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. ⁹  His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!” ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 63:11

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ¹¹ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ¹²  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ¹³ 

Isaiah 65:1

The Lord Will Distinguish Between Sinners and the Godly

65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ¹⁴ 

I appeared to those who did not look for me. ¹⁵ 

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

to a nation that did not invoke ¹⁶  my name.

Isaiah 66:5

66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,

you who respect what he has to say! ¹⁷ 

Your countrymen, ¹⁸  who hate you

and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,

say, “May the Lord be glorified,

then we will witness your joy.” ¹⁹ 

But they will be put to shame.

[18:2]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (mÿmushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ² tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”

[18:2]  ³ tn Once more the precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. The expression קַו־קָו (qav-qav) is sometimes related to a proposed Arabic cognate and taken to mean “strength” (see BDB 876 II קַו). Others, on the basis of Isa 28:10, 13, understand the form as gibberish (literally, “kav, kav”) and take it to be a reference to this nation’s strange, unknown language. The form מְבוּסָה (mÿvusah) appears to be derived from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”), so lexicographers suggest the meaning “trampling” or “subjugation,” i.e., a nation that subdues others. See BDB 101 s.v. בּוּס and HALOT 541 s.v. מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ⁴ tn The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (baza’), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. BDB 102 s.v. suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; HALOT 117 s.v., citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”

[28:15]  ⁵ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ⁶ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ⁸ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.

[36:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.

[36:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”

[63:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.

[63:11]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.

[63:11]  ¹⁵ sn See the note at v. 10.

[65:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”

[65:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”

[65:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”

[66:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”

[66:5]  ²² tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”

[66:5]  ²³ tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.