Isaiah 25:5

25:5 like heat ¹  in a dry land,

you humble the boasting foreigners. ² 

Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside, ³ 

so he causes the song of tyrants to cease. ⁴ 

Isaiah 44:22

44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,

the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ⁵ 

Come back to me, for I protect ⁶  you.”

[25:5]  ¹ tn Or “drought” (TEV).

[25:5]  ² tn Heb “the tumult of foreigners.”

[25:5]  ³ tn Heb “[like] heat in the shadow of a cloud.”

[25:5]  ⁴ tn The translation assumes that the verb יַעֲנֶה (ya’aneh) is a Hiphil imperfect from עָנָה (’anah, “be afflicted, humiliated”). In this context with “song” as object it means to “quiet” (see HALOT 853-54 s.v. II ענה). Some prefer to emend the form to the second person singular, so that it will agree with the second person verb earlier in the verse. BDB 776 s.v. III עָנָה Qal.1 understands the form as Qal, with “song” as subject, in which case one might translate “the song of tyrants will be silent.” An emendation of the form to a Niphal (יֵעָנֶה, ye’aneh) would yield the same translation.

[44:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

[44:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.