Discovery BoxIsaiah 32:1-14
Context32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; 1
officials will promote justice. 2
32:2 Each of them 3 will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
32:3 Eyes 4 will no longer be blind 5
and ears 6 will be attentive.
32:4 The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment 7
and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.
32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;
a deceiver will no longer be called principled.
32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; 8
his mind plans out sinful deeds. 9
He commits godless deeds 10
and says misleading things about the Lord;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite 11
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. 12
32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; 13
he dreams up evil plans 14
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right. 15
32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security. 16
get up and listen to me!
You carefree 18 daughters,
pay attention to what I say!
you carefree ones will shake with fear,
for the grape 20 harvest will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!
Shake with fear, you carefree ones!
Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –
put sackcloth on your waist! 21
32:12 Mourn over the field, 22
over the delightful fields
and the fruitful vine!
32:13 Mourn 23 over the land of my people,
which is overgrown with thorns and briers,
and over all the once-happy houses 24
in the city filled with revelry. 25
32:14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded 26 city is abandoned.
Hill 27 and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited. 28
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there. 29
[32:1] 1 tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”
[32:1] 2 tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”
[32:2] 3 tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.
[32:3] 4 tn Heb “Eyes that see.”
[32:3] 5 tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (tÿsho’enah) from שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.
[32:3] 6 tn Heb “ears that hear.”
[32:4] 7 tn Heb “the heart of rashness will understand knowledge”; cf. NAB “The flighty will become wise and capable.”
[32:6] 8 tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.
[32:6] 9 tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”
[32:6] 10 tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”
[32:6] 11 tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”
[32:6] 12 tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”
[32:7] 13 tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”
[32:7] 14 tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”
[32:7] 15 tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”
[32:8] 16 tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”
[32:9] 17 tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”
[32:9] 18 tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”
[32:10] 19 tn Heb “days upon a year.”
[32:10] 20 tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.
[32:11] 21 tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khirdu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, sha’anannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, rÿgazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, pÿshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ’orah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khirdu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “aramaized” forms.
[32:12] 22 tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (sÿfodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).
[32:13] 23 tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.
[32:13] 24 tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.
[32:13] 25 sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.
[32:14] 26 tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).
[32:14] 27 tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.
[32:14] 28 tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.
[32:14] 29 tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”
