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 54:17

54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. ⁵ 

This is what the Lord will do for his servants –

I will vindicate them,” ⁶ 

says the Lord.

Isaiah 61:10

61:10 I ⁷  will greatly rejoice ⁸  in the Lord;

I will be overjoyed because of my God. ⁹ 

For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;

he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. ¹⁰ 

I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;

I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 66:20

66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen ¹²  from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them ¹³  on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels ¹⁴  to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers.

[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.”

[54:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”

[54:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”

[61:10]  ⁹ sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.

[61:10]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[61:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”

[61:10]  ¹² tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”

[61:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[66:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”

[66:20]  ¹⁴ tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[66:20]  ¹⁵ tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.