Discovery BoxIsaiah 23:1
Context23:1 Here is a message about Tyre:
Wail, you large ships, 1
for the port is too devastated to enter! 2
From the land of Cyprus 3 this news is announced to them.
Isaiah 27:1--28:29
Context27:1 At that time 4 the Lord will punish
with his destructive, 5 great, and powerful sword
Leviathan the fast-moving 6 serpent,
Leviathan the squirming serpent;
he will kill the sea monster. 7
sing about a delightful vineyard! 9
27:3 I, the Lord, protect it; 10
I water it regularly. 11
I guard it night and day,
so no one can harm it. 12
27:4 I am not angry.
I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!
Then I would march against them 13 for battle;
I would set them 14 all on fire,
27:5 unless they became my subjects 15
and made peace with me;
let them make peace with me. 16
27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root; 17
Israel will blossom and grow branches.
The produce 18 will fill the surface of the world. 19
27:7 Has the Lord struck down Israel like he did their oppressors? 20
Has Israel been killed like their enemies? 21
27:8 When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her; 22
he drives her away 23 with his strong wind in the day of the east wind. 24
27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, 25
and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: 26
They will make all the stones of the altars 27
like crushed limestone,
and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. 28
27:10 For the fortified city 29 is left alone;
it is a deserted settlement
and abandoned like the desert.
Calves 30 graze there;
they lie down there
and eat its branches bare. 31
27:11 When its branches get brittle, 32 they break;
women come and use them for kindling. 33
For these people lack understanding, 34
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
27:12 At that time 35 the Lord will shake the tree, 36 from the Euphrates River 37 to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites. 38 27:13 At that time 39 a large 40 trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost 41 in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in 42 the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. 43
28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, 44
the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, 45
situated 46 at the head of a rich valley,
the crown of those overcome with wine. 47
28:2 Look, the sovereign master 48 sends a strong, powerful one. 49
With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, 50
with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, 51
he will knock that crown 52 to the ground with his hand. 53
28:3 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
will be like an early fig before harvest –
as soon as someone notices it,
he grabs it and swallows it. 54
28:5 At that time 55 the Lord who commands armies will become a beautiful crown
and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.
28:6 He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions,
and strength to those who defend the city from attackers. 56
28:7 Even these men 57 stagger because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer –
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused 58 because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, 59
they totter while making legal decisions. 60
28:8 Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit;
no place is untouched. 61
28:9 Who is the Lord 62 trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining a message? 63
Those just weaned from milk!
Those just taken from their mother’s breast! 64
28:10 Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there. 65
28:11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue
he will speak to these people. 66
28:12 In the past he said to them, 67
“This is where security can be found.
Provide security for the one who is exhausted!
This is where rest can be found.” 68
But they refused to listen.
28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like
meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there. 69
As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, 70
and be injured, ensnared, and captured. 71
28:14 Therefore, listen to the Lord’s word,
you who mock,
you rulers of these people
who reside in Jerusalem! 72
28:15 For you say,
“We have made a treaty with death,
with Sheol 73 we have made an agreement. 74
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by 75
it will not reach us.
For we have made a lie our refuge,
we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” 76
28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:
“Look, I am laying 77 a stone in Zion,
an approved 78 stone,
set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. 79
The one who maintains his faith will not panic. 80
28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,
fairness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, 81
the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.
28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; 82
your agreement 83 with Sheol will not last. 84
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, 85
you will be overrun by it. 86
28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed, 87 every morning it will sweep by,
it will come through during the day and the night.” 88
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. 89
28:21 For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, 90
he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, 91
to accomplish his work,
his peculiar work,
to perform his task,
his strange task. 92
28:22 So now, do not mock,
or your chains will become heavier!
For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,
from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. 93
28:23 Pay attention and listen to my message! 94
Be attentive and listen to what I have to say! 95
28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? 96
Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?
28:25 Once he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,
sow the seed of the cumin plant,
and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? 97
28:26 His God instructs him;
he teaches him the principles of agriculture. 98
28:27 Certainly 99 caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge,
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. 100
Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,
and cumin seed with a flail.
28:28 Grain is crushed,
though one certainly does not thresh it forever.
The wheel of one’s wagon rolls over it,
but his horses do not crush it.
28:29 This also comes from the Lord who commands armies,
who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom. 101
[23:1] 1 tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.
[23:1] 2 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (bo’) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b.
[23:1] 3 tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים.
[27:1] 4 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).
[27:1] 5 tn Heb “hard, severe”; cf. NAB, NRSV “cruel”; KJV “sore”; NLT “terrible.”
[27:1] 6 tn Heb “fleeing” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Some translate “slippery” or “slithering.”
[27:1] 7 tn The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon (Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַנִּין [tannin, translated “sea monster” here]) vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling (Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן [’aqallaton, translated “squirming” here]) serpent, the tyrant with seven heads (cf. Ps 74:14).” (See CTA 3 iii 38-39.) (2) “for all that you smote Leviathan the slippery (Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ [bariakh, translated “fast-moving” here]) serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5 i 1-3.)
[27:2] 7 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).
[27:2] 8 tn Heb “vineyard of delight,” or “vineyard of beauty.” Many medieval
[27:3] 10 tn Heb “her.” Apparently “vineyard” is the antecedent, though normally this noun is understood as masculine (see Lev 25:3, however).
[27:3] 11 tn Or perhaps, “constantly.” Heb “by moments.”
[27:3] 12 tn Heb “lest [someone] visit [harm] upon it, night and day I guard it.”
[27:4] 13 tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense. For other examples of a cohortative expressing resolve after a hypothetical statement introduced by נָתַן with מִי (miwith natan), see Judg 9:29; Jer 9:1-2; Ps 55:6.
[27:4] 14 tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense.
[27:5] 16 tn Heb “or let him take hold of my refuge.” The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is uncertain. Apparently the symbolic “thorns and briers” are in view, though in v. 4b a feminine singular pronoun was used to refer to them.
[27:5] 17 tc The Hebrew text has, “he makes peace with me, peace he makes with me.” Some contend that two alternative readings are preserved here and one should be deleted. The first has the object שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) preceding the verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “make”); the second reverses the order. Another option is to retain both statements, although repetitive, to emphasize the need to make peace with Yahweh.
[27:6] 19 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “the coming ones, let Jacob take root.” הַבָּאִים (habba’im, “the coming ones”) should probably be emended to יָמִים בָאִים (yamim va’im, “days [are] coming”) or בְּיָמִים הַבָּאִים (biyamim habba’im, “in the coming days”).
[27:6] 20 tn Heb “fruit” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[27:6] 21 sn This apparently refers to a future population explosion. See 26:18.
[27:7] 22 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Like the striking down of the one striking him down does he strike him down?” The meaning of the text is unclear, but this may be a rhetorical question, suggesting that Israel has not experienced divine judgment to the same degree as her oppressors. In this case “the one striking down” refers to Israel’s oppressors, while the pronoun “him” refers to Israel. The subject of the final verb (“does he strike down”) would then be God, while the pronoun “him” would again refer to Israel.
[27:7] 23 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Or like the killing of his killed ones is he killed?” If one accepts the interpretation of the parallel line outlined in the previous note, then this line too would contain a rhetorical question suggesting that Israel has not experienced destruction to the same degree as its enemies. In this case “his killed ones” refers to the one who struck Israel down, and Israel would be the subject of the final verb (“is he killed”).
[27:8] 25 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “in [?], in sending her away, you oppose her.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The form בְּסַאסְּאָה (bÿsa’ssÿ’ah) is taken as an infinitive from סַאסְּאָה (sa’ssÿ’ah) with a prepositional prefix and a third feminine singular suffix. (The MT does not have a mappiq in the final he [ה], however). According to HALOT 738 s.v. סַאסְּאָה the verb is a Palpel form from an otherwise unattested root cognate with an Arabic verb meaning “to gather beasts with a call.” Perhaps it means “to call, summon” here, but this is a very tentative proposal. בְּשַׁלְחָהּ (bÿshalkhah, “in sending her away”) appears to be a Piel infinitive with a prepositional prefix and a third feminine singular suffix. Since the Piel of שָׁלָח (shalakh) can sometimes mean “divorce” (HALOT 1514-15 s.v.) and the following verb רִיב (riv, “oppose”) can be used in legal contexts, it is possible that divorce proceedings are alluded to here. This may explain why Israel is referred to as feminine in this verse, in contrast to the masculine forms used in vv. 6-7 and 9.
[27:8] 26 tn The Hebrew text has no object expressed, but one can understand a third feminine singular pronominal object and place a mappiq in the final he (ה) of the form to indicate the suffix.
[27:8] 27 sn The “east wind” here symbolizes violent divine judgment.
[27:9] 28 tn Or “be atoned for” (NIV); cf. NRSV “be expiated.”
[27:9] 29 tn Heb “and this [is] all the fruit of removing his sin.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear, though “removing his sin” certainly parallels “Jacob’s sin will be removed” in the preceding line. If original, “all the fruit” may refer to the result of the decision to remove sin, but the phrase may be a corruption of לְכַפֵּר (lekhaper, “to atone for”), which in turn might be a gloss on הָסִר (hasir, “removing”).
[27:9] 30 tn Heb “when he makes the stones of an altar.” The singular “altar” is collective here; pagan altars are in view, as the last line of the verse indicates. See also 17:8.
[27:9] 31 sn As interpreted and translated above, this verse says that Israel must totally repudiate its pagan religious practices in order to experience God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another option is to understand “in this way” and “this” in v. 9a as referring back to the judgment described in v. 8. In this case כָּפַר (kafar, “atone for”) is used in a sarcastic sense; Jacob’s sin is “atoned for” and removed through severe judgment. Following this line of interpretation, one might paraphrase the verse as follows: “So in this way (through judgment) Jacob’s sin will be “atoned for,” and this is the way his sin will be removed, when he (i.e., God) makes all the altar stones like crushed limestone….” This interpretation is more consistent with the tone of judgment in vv. 8 and 10-11.
[27:10] 31 sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.
[27:10] 32 tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.
[27:10] 33 tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.
[27:11] 34 tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[27:11] 35 tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.
[27:11] 36 tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”
[27:12] 37 tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[27:12] 38 tn Heb “the Lord will beat out.” The verb is used of beating seeds or grain to separate the husk from the kernel (see Judg 6:11; Ruth 2:17; Isa 28:27), and of beating the olives off the olive tree (Deut 24:20). The latter metaphor may be in view here, where a tree metaphor has been employed in the preceding verses. See also 17:6.
[27:12] 39 tn Heb “the river,” a frequent designation in the OT for the Euphrates. For clarity most modern English versions substitute the name “Euphrates” for “the river” here.
[27:12] 40 sn The Israelites will be freed from exile (likened to beating the olives off the tree) and then gathered (likened to collecting the olives).
[27:13] 40 tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[27:13] 41 tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”
[27:13] 42 tn Or “the ones perishing.”
[27:13] 43 tn Or “the ones driven into.”
[27:13] 44 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[28:1] 43 tn Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7.
[28:1] 44 tn Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.
[28:1] 45 tn Heb “which [is].”
[28:1] 46 tn Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן (halume yayin, “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם (shikkore ’efrayim, “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.
[28:2] 46 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[28:2] 47 tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”
[28:2] 48 tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”
[28:2] 49 tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”
[28:2] 50 tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.
[28:2] 51 tn Or “by [his] power.”
[28:4] 49 tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”
[28:5] 52 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
[28:6] 55 tn Heb “and [he will become] a spirit of justice for the one who sits [i.e., presides] over judgment, // and strength [for] the ones who turn back battle at the city gate.” The Lord will provide internal stability and national security.
[28:7] 58 tn Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.
[28:7] 59 tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.
[28:7] 60 tn Heb “in the seeing.”
[28:7] 61 tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”
[28:8] 61 tn Heb “vomit, without a place.” For the meaning of the phrase בְּלִי מָקוֹם (bÿli maqom, “without a place”), see HALOT 133 s.v. בְּלִי.
[28:9] 64 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:9] 65 tn Heb “Who is he teaching knowledge? For whom is he explaining a message?” The translation assumes that the Lord is the subject of the verbs “teaching” and “explaining,” and that the prophet is asking the questions. See v. 12. According to some vv. 9-10 record the people’s sarcastic response to the Lord’s message through Isaiah.
[28:9] 66 tn Heb “from the breasts.” The words “their mother’s” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The translation assumes that this is the prophet’s answer to the questions asked in the first half of the verse. The Lord is trying to instruct people who are “infants” morally and ethically.
[28:10] 67 tn The meaning of this verse has been debated. The text has literally “indeed [or “for”] a little there, a little there” ( כִּי צַו לָצָו צַו לָצָו קַו לָקָו קַו, ki tsav latsav, tsav latsav, qav laqav, qav laqav). The present translation assumes that the repetitive syllables are gibberish that resembles baby talk (cf v. 9b) and mimics what the people will hear when foreign invaders conquer the land (v. 11). In this case זְעֵיר (zÿ’er, “a little”) refers to the short syllabic structure of the babbling (cf. CEV). Some take צַו (tsav) as a derivative of צָוָה (tsavah, “command”) and translate the first part of the statement as “command after command, command after command.” Proponents of this position (followed by many English versions) also take קַו (qav) as a noun meaning “measuring line” (see v. 17), understood here in the abstract sense of “standard” or “rule.”
[28:11] 70 sn This verse alludes to the coming Assyrian invasion, when the people will hear a foreign language that sounds like gibberish to them. The Lord is the subject of the verb “will speak,” as v. 12 makes clear. He once spoke in meaningful terms, but in the coming judgment he will speak to them, as it were, through the mouth of foreign oppressors. The apparent gibberish they hear will be an outward reminder that God has decreed their defeat.
[28:12] 73 tn Heb “who said to them.”
[28:12] 74 sn This message encapsulates the Lord’s invitation to his people to find security in his protection and blessing.
[28:13] 76 tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.
[28:13] 77 tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.
[28:13] 78 sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.
[28:14] 79 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[28:15] 82 sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.
[28:15] 83 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] 84 tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).
[28:15] 85 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.
[28:16] 85 tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.
[28:16] 86 tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.
[28:16] 87 sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).
[28:16] 88 tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.
[28:17] 88 tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.
[28:18] 91 tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.
[28:18] 92 tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.
[28:18] 93 tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).
[28:18] 94 tn See the note at v. 15.
[28:18] 95 tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”
[28:19] 94 tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[28:19] 95 tn The words “it will come through” are supplied in the translation. The verb “will sweep by” does double duty in the parallel structure.
[28:20] 97 sn The bed and blanket probably symbolize their false sense of security. A bed that is too short and a blanket that is too narrow may promise rest and protection from the cold, but in the end they are useless and disappointing. In the same way, their supposed treaty with death will prove useless and disappointing.
[28:21] 100 sn This probably alludes to David’s victory over the Philistines at Baal Perazim. See 2 Sam 5:20.
[28:21] 101 sn This probably alludes to the Lord’s victory over the Canaanites at Gibeon, during the days of Joshua. See Josh 10:10-11.
[28:21] 102 sn God’s judgment of his own people is called “his peculiar work” and “his strange task,” because he must deal with them the way he treated their enemies in the past.
[28:22] 103 tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).
[28:23] 106 tn Heb “to my voice.”
[28:23] 107 tn Heb “to my word”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “hear my speech.”
[28:24] 109 tn Heb “All the day does the plowman plow in order to plant?” The phrase “all the day” here has the sense of “continually, always.” See BDB 400 s.v. יוֹם.
[28:25] 112 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “place wheat [?], and barley [?], and grain in its territory.” The term שׂוֹרָה (shorah) is sometimes translated “[in] its place,” but the word is unattested elsewhere. It is probably due to dittography of the immediately following שְׂעֹרָה (sÿo’rah, “barley”). The meaning of נִסְמָן (nisman) is also uncertain. It may be due to dittography of the immediately following כֻסֶּמֶת (kussemet, “grain”).
[28:26] 115 tn Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”
[28:27] 118 tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB).
[28:27] 119 sn Both of these seeds are too small to use the ordinary threshing techniques.
[28:29] 121 sn Verses 23-29 emphasize that God possesses great wisdom and has established a natural order. Evidence of this can be seen in the way farmers utilize divinely imparted wisdom to grow and harvest crops. God’s dealings with his people will exhibit this same kind of wisdom and order. Judgment will be accomplished according to a divinely ordered timetable and, while severe enough, will not be excessive. Judgment must come, just as planting inevitably follows plowing. God will, as it were, thresh his people, but he will not crush them to the point where they will be of no use to him.
