Discovery BoxIsaiah 22:12-14
Context22:12 At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,
for shaved heads and sackcloth. 1
22:13 But look, there is outright celebration! 2
You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,
eat meat and drink wine.
Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 3
22:14 The Lord who commands armies told me this: 4 “Certainly this sin will not be forgiven as long as you live,” 5 says the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies.
Isaiah 47:1-2
Context47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,
O virgin 6 daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed, 7 you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.
47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour!
Remove your veil,
strip off your skirt,
expose your legs,
cross the streams!
Isaiah 47:7-9
Context47:7 You said,
‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ 8
You did not think about these things; 9
you did not consider how it would turn out. 10
47:8 So now, listen to this,
O one who lives so lavishly, 11
who lives securely,
who says to herself, 12
‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! 13
I will never have to live as a widow;
I will never lose my children.’ 14
47:9 Both of these will come upon you
suddenly, in one day!
You will lose your children and be widowed. 15
You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, 16
despite 17 your many incantations
and your numerous amulets. 18
Ezekiel 28:2-10
Context28:2 “Son of man, say to the prince 19 of Tyre, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘Your heart is proud 20 and you said, “I am a god; 21
I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas” –
yet you are a man and not a god,
though you think you are godlike. 22
28:3 Look, you are wiser than Daniel; 23
no secret is hidden from you. 24
28:4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself;
you have amassed gold and silver in your treasuries.
28:5 By your great skill 25 in trade you have increased your wealth,
and your heart is proud because of your wealth.
28:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Because you think you are godlike, 26
28:7 I am about to bring foreigners 27 against you, the most terrifying of nations.
They will draw their swords against the grandeur made by your wisdom, 28
and they will defile your splendor.
28:8 They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die violently 29 in the heart of the seas.
28:9 Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you –
though you are a man and not a god –
when you are in the power of those who wound you?
28:10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised 30 by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
Zephaniah 2:15
Context2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up 31 –
the city that was so secure. 32
She thought to herself, 33 “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” 34
What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live!
Everyone who passes by her taunts her 35 and shakes his fist. 36
Zephaniah 2:2
Context2:2 before God’s decree becomes reality 37 and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, 38
before the Lord’s raging anger 39 overtakes 40 you –
before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you!
Zephaniah 2:4-8
Context2:4 Indeed, 41 Gaza will be deserted 42
and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. 43
Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, 44
and Ekron will be overthrown. 45
2:5 Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, 46 are as good as dead. 47
The Lord has decreed your downfall, 48 Canaan, land of the Philistines:
“I will destroy everyone who lives there!” 49
2:6 The seacoast 50 will be used as pasture lands 51 by the shepherds
and as pens for their flocks.
2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah 52 will take possession of it. 53
By the sea 54 they 55 will graze,
in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening,
for the Lord their God will intervene for them 56 and restore their prosperity. 57
2:8 “I have heard Moab’s taunts
and the Ammonites’ insults.
They 58 taunted my people
and verbally harassed those living in Judah. 59
[22:12] 1 tn Heb “for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth.” See the note at 15:2.
[22:13] 2 tn Heb “happiness and joy.”
[22:13] 3 tn The prophet here quotes what the fatalistic people are saying. The introductory “you say” is supplied in the translation for clarification; the concluding verb “we die” makes it clear the people are speaking. The six verbs translated as imperatives are actually infinitives absolute, functioning here as finite verbs.
[22:14] 4 tn Heb “it was revealed in my ears [by?] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”
[22:14] 5 tn Heb “Certainly this sin will not be atoned for until you die.” This does not imply that their death will bring atonement; rather it emphasizes that their sin is unpardonable. The statement has the form of an oath.
[47:1] 6 tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).
[47:1] 7 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
[47:7] 8 tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”
[47:7] 9 tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”
[47:7] 10 tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”
[47:8] 11 tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”
[47:8] 12 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
[47:8] 13 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.
[47:8] 14 tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”
[47:9] 15 tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.
[47:9] 16 tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”
[47:9] 17 tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.
[47:9] 18 sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.
[28:2] 19 tn Or “ruler” (NIV, NCV).
[28:2] 21 tn Or “I am divine.”
[28:2] 22 tn Heb “and you made your heart (mind) like the heart (mind) of gods.”
[28:3] 23 sn Or perhaps “Danel” (so TEV), referring to a ruler known from Canaanite legend. See the note on “Daniel” in 14:14. A reference to Danel (preserved in legend at Ugarit, near the northern end of the Phoenician coast) makes more sense here when addressing Tyre than in 14:14.
[28:3] 24 sn The tone here is sarcastic, reflecting the ruler’s view of himself.
[28:6] 26 tn Heb “because of your making your heart like the heart of gods.”
[28:7] 27 sn This is probably a reference to the Babylonians.
[28:7] 28 tn Heb “they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom.”
[28:8] 29 tn Heb “you will die the death of the slain.”
[28:10] 30 sn The Phoenicians practiced circumcision, so the language here must be figurative, indicating that they would be treated in a disgraceful manner. Uncircumcised peoples were viewed as inferior, unclean, and perhaps even sub-human. See 31:18 and 32:17-32, as well as the discussion in D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:99.
[2:15] 31 tn Heb “this is the proud city.”
[2:15] 32 tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”
[2:15] 33 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
[2:15] 34 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”
[2:15] 35 tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”
[2:15] 36 sn Hissing (or whistling) and shaking the fist were apparently ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.
[2:2] 37 tn Heb “before the giving birth of a decree.” For various alternative readings, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 187-88.
[2:2] 38 tn The second half of the line reads literally, “like chaff it passes by a day.” The translation above assumes the “day” is the brief time God is giving the nation to repent. The comparison of this quickly passing opportunity to chaff is consistent with the straw imagery of v. 1.
[2:2] 39 tn Heb “the fury of the anger of the
[2:2] 40 tn Heb “comes upon.” This phrase occurs twice in this verse.
[2:4] 41 tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[2:4] 42 tn There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name Gaza (עַזָּה, ’azzah) sounds like the word translated “deserted” (עֲזוּבָה, ’azuvah).
[2:4] 43 tn Or “a desolate place.”
[2:4] 44 tn Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.”
[2:4] 45 tn Heb “uprooted.” There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name “Ekron” (עֶקְרוֹן, ’eqron) sounds like the word translated “uprooted” (תֵּעָקֵר, te’aqer).
[2:5] 46 tn Heb “Kerethites,” a people settled alongside the Philistines in the coastal areas of southern Palestine (cf. 1 Sam 30:14; Ezek 25:16). They originally came from the island of Crete.
[2:5] 47 tn Heb “Woe, inhabitants of the coast of the sea, nation of Kerethites.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “ah, woe”), is used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5). By using it here the prophet mourns in advance the downfall of the Philistines, thereby emphasizing the certainty of their demise (“as good as dead”). Some argue the word does not have its earlier connotation here and is simply an attention-getting interjection, equivalent to “Hey!”
[2:5] 48 tn Heb “the word of the
[2:5] 49 tn Heb “I will destroy you so there is no inhabitant [remaining].”
[2:6] 50 tn The NIV here supplies the phrase “where the Kerethites dwell” (“Kerethites” is translated in v. 5 as “the people who came from Crete”) as an interpretive gloss, but this phrase is not in the MT. The NAB likewise reads “the coastland of the Cretans,” supplying “Cretans” here.
[2:6] 51 tn The Hebrew phrase here is נְוֹת כְּרֹת (nÿvot kÿrot). The first word is probably a plural form of נָוָה (navah, “pasture”). The meaning of the second word is unclear. It may be a synonym of the preceding word (cf. NRSV “pastures, meadows for shepherds”); there is a word כַּר (kar, “pasture”) in biblical Hebrew, but elsewhere it forms its plural with a masculine ending. Some have suggested the meaning “wells” or “caves” used as shelters (cf. NEB “shepherds’ huts”); in this case, one might translate, “The seacoast will be used for pasturelands; for shepherds’ wells/caves.”
[2:7] 52 tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”
[2:7] 53 tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”
[2:7] 54 tc Heb “on them,” but the antecedent of the masculine pronoun is unclear. It may refer back to the “pasture lands,” though that noun is feminine. It is preferable to emend the text from עֲלֵיהֶם (’alehem) to עַל־הַיָּם (’al-hayyam, “by the sea”) an emendation that assumes a misdivision and transposition of letters in the MT (cf. NEB “They shall pasture their flocks by the sea”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 192.
[2:7] 55 tn The referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) is unclear. It may refer (1) to the shepherds (in which case the first verb should be translated, “pasture their sheep,” cf. NEB), or (2) to the Judahites occupying the area, who are being compared to sheep (cf. NIV, “there they will find pasture”).
[2:7] 56 tn Or “will care for them.”
[2:7] 57 tn Traditionally, “restore their captivity,” i.e., bring back their captives, but it is more likely the expression means “restore their fortunes” in a more general sense (cf. NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[2:8] 58 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[2:8] 59 tn Heb “and they made great [their mouth?] against their territory.” Other possible translation options include (1) “they enlarged their own territory” (cf. NEB) and (2) “they bragged about [the size] of their own territory.”
