Discovery BoxIsaiah 30:28
Context30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river 1
that reaches one’s neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; 2
he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. 3
Isaiah 48:16
Context48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!
From the very first I have not spoken in secret;
when it happens, 4 I am there.”
So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. 5
Isaiah 34:16
Context34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! 6
Not one of these creatures will be missing, 7
none will lack a mate. 8
For the Lord has issued the decree, 9
and his own spirit gathers them. 10
[30:28] 1 tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.
[30:28] 2 tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.
[30:28] 3 tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.
[48:16] 4 tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”
[48:16] 5 sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.
[34:16] 7 tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”
[34:16] 8 tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
[34:16] 9 tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”
[34:16] 10 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and a few medieval
[34:16] 11 tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” 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).
