Isaiah 33:19

33:19 You will no longer see a defiant ¹  people

whose language you do not comprehend, ² 

whose derisive speech you do not understand. ³ 

Isaiah 37:22

37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: ⁴ 

“The virgin daughter Zion ⁵ 

despises you – she makes fun of you;

daughter Jerusalem

shakes her head after you. ⁶ 

[33:19]  ¹ tn The Hebrew form נוֹעָז (no’az) is a Niphal participle derived from יָעַז (ya’az, an otherwise unattested verb) or from עָזָז (’azaz, “be strong,” unattested elsewhere in the Niphal). Some prefer to emend the form to לוֹעֵז (lo’ez) which occurs in Ps 114:1 with the meaning “speak a foreign language.” See HALOT 809 s.v. עזז, 533 s.v. לעז. In this case, one might translate “people who speak a foreign language.”

[33:19]  ² tn Heb “a people too deep of lip to hear.” The phrase “deep of lip” must be an idiom meaning “lips that speak words that are unfathomable [i.e., incomprehensible].”

[33:19]  ³ tn Heb “derision of tongue there is no understanding.” The Niphal of לָעַג (la’ag) occurs only here. In the Qal and Hiphil the verb means “to deride, mock.” A related noun is used in 28:11.

[37:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”

[37:22]  ⁵ sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.

[37:22]  ⁶ sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.