Discovery BoxIsaiah 34:16-17
Context34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! 1
Not one of these creatures will be missing, 2
none will lack a mate. 3
For the Lord has issued the decree, 4
and his own spirit gathers them. 5
34:17 He assigns them their allotment; 6
he measures out their assigned place. 7
They will live there 8 permanently;
they will settle in it through successive generations.
[34:16] 1 tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”
[34:16] 2 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] 3 tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”
[34:16] 4 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and a few medieval
[34:16] 5 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).
[34:17] 6 tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again 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).
[34:17] 7 tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.
[34:17] 8 tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”
