Isaiah 3:1-3

A Coming Leadership Crisis

3:1 Look, the sovereign Lord who commands armies ¹ 

is about to remove from Jerusalem ²  and Judah

every source of security, including ³ 

all the food and water, ⁴ 

3:2 the mighty men and warriors,

judges and prophets,

omen readers and leaders, ⁵ 

3:3 captains of groups of fifty,

the respected citizens, ⁶ 

advisers and those skilled in magical arts, ⁷ 

and those who know incantations.

[3:1]  ¹ tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.

[3:1]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “support and support.” The masculine and feminine forms of the noun are placed side-by-side to emphasize completeness. See GKC 394 §122.v.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “all the support of food, and all the support of water.”

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “elder” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NCV “older leaders.”

[3:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the ones lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.

[3:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the wise with respect to magic.” On the meaning of חֲרָשִׁים (kharashim, “magic”), see HALOT 358 s.v. III חרשׁ. Some understand here a homonym, meaning “craftsmen.” In this case, one could translate, “skilled craftsmen” (cf. NIV, NASB).