Isaiah 28:10

28:10 Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ¹ 

Isaiah 28:13

28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like

meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ² 

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ³ 

and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ⁴ 

Isaiah 28:17

28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,

fairness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, ⁵ 

the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.

Isaiah 34:11

34:11 Owls and wild animals ⁶  will live there, ⁷ 

all kinds of wild birds ⁸  will settle in it.

The Lord ⁹  will stretch out over her

the measuring line of ruin

and the plumb line ¹⁰  of destruction. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 34:17

34:17 He assigns them their allotment; ¹² 

he measures out their assigned place. ¹³ 

They will live there ¹⁴  permanently;

they will settle in it through successive generations.

Isaiah 44:13

44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; ¹⁵ 

he marks out an outline of its form; ¹⁶ 

he scrapes ¹⁷  it with chisels,

and marks it with a compass.

He patterns it after the human form, ¹⁸ 

like a well-built human being,

and puts it in a shrine. ¹⁹ 

[28:10]  ¹ 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.”

[28:13]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

[28:17]  ³ tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.

[34:11]  ⁴ tn קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (cf. Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). קִפּוֹד (qippod) may also refer to a type of bird (NAB “hoot owl”; NIV “screech owl”; TEV “ravens”), but some have suggested a rodent may be in view (cf. NCV “small animals”; ASV “porcupine”; NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”).

[34:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).

[34:11]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has יַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב (yanshof vÿ’orev). Both the יַנְשׁוֹף (“owl”; see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16) and עֹרֵב (“raven”; Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14) were types of wild birds.

[34:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.

[34:11]  ⁹ sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.

[34:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again the pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.

[34:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”

[44:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”

[44:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”

[44:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”

[44:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”

[44:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”