Discovery BoxIsaiah 33:7-12
Context33:7 Look, ambassadors 1 cry out in the streets;
messengers sent to make peace 2 weep bitterly.
there are no travelers. 4
Treaties are broken, 5
witnesses are despised, 6
human life is treated with disrespect. 7
33:9 The land 8 dries up 9 and withers away;
the forest of Lebanon shrivels up 10 and decays.
Sharon 11 is like the desert; 12
Bashan and Carmel 13 are parched. 14
33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“Now I will exalt myself;
now I will magnify myself. 15
you give birth to chaff;
your breath is a fire that destroys you. 17
33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes; 18
like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.
[33:7] 1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Proposals include “heroes” (cf. KJV, ASV “valiant ones”; NASB, NIV “brave men”); “priests,” “residents [of Jerusalem].” The present translation assumes that the term is synonymous with “messengers of peace,” with which it corresponds in the parallel structure of the verse.
[33:7] 2 tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).
[33:8] 3 tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”
[33:8] 4 tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”
[33:8] 5 tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”
[33:8] 6 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “he despises cities.” The term עָרִים (’arim, “cities”) is probably a corruption of an original עֵדִים (’edim, “[legal] witnesses”), a reading that is preserved in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.
[33:8] 7 tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”
[33:9] 8 tn Or “earth” (KJV); NAB “the country.”
[33:9] 9 tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. I אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism. See 24:4.
[33:9] 10 tn Heb “Lebanon is ashamed.” The Hiphil is exhibitive, expressing the idea, “exhibits shame.” In this context the statement alludes to the withering of vegetation.
[33:9] 11 sn Sharon was a fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast. See 35:2.
[33:9] 12 tn Or “the Arabah” (NIV). See 35:1.
[33:9] 13 sn Both of these areas were known for their trees and vegetation. See 2:13; 35:2.
[33:9] 14 tn Heb “shake off [their leaves]” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB “are stripped bare.”
[33:10] 15 tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”
[33:11] 16 tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.
[33:11] 17 sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.
[33:12] 18 tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.
