Isaiah 30:7

30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ¹ 

For this reason I call her

‘Proud one ²  who is silenced.’” ³ 

Isaiah 57:13

57:13 When you cry out for help, let your idols ⁴  help you!

The wind blows them all away, ⁵ 

a breeze carries them away. ⁶ 

But the one who looks to me for help ⁷  will inherit the land

and will have access to ⁸  my holy mountain.”

[30:7]  ¹ tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”

[30:7]  ² tn Heb “Rahab” (רַהַב, rahav), which also appears as a name for Egypt in Ps 87:4. The epithet is also used in the OT for a mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos. See the note at 51:9. A number of English versions use the name “Rahab” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) while others attempt some sort of translation (cf. CEV “a helpless monster”; TEV, NLT “the Harmless Dragon”).

[30:7]  ³ tn The MT reads “Rahab, they, sitting.” The translation above assumes an emendation of הֵם שָׁבֶת (hem shavet) to הַמָּשְׁבָּת (hammashbat), a Hophal participle with prefixed definite article, meaning “the one who is made to cease,” i.e., “destroyed,” or “silenced.” See HALOT 444-45 s.v. ישׁב.

[57:13]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has קִבּוּצַיִךְ (qibbutsayikh, “your gatherings”), an otherwise unattested noun from the verbal root קָבַץ (qavats, “gather”). Perhaps this alludes to their religious assemblies and by metonymy to their rituals. Since idolatry is a prominent theme in the context, some understand this as a reference to a collection of idols. The second half of the verse also favors this view.

[57:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “all of them a wind lifts up.”

[57:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “a breath takes [them] away.”

[57:13]  ⁷ tn Or “seeks refuge in me.” “Seeking refuge” is a metonymy for “being loyal to.”

[57:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “possess, own.” The point seems to be that he will have free access to God’s presence, as if God’s temple mount were his personal possession.