Isaiah 35:2

Context

35:2 Let it richly bloom;¹

let it rejoice and shout with delight!²

It is given the grandeur³ of Lebanon,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.

They will see the grandeur of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

Isaiah 49:7

Context

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector⁴ of Israel, their Holy One,⁵ says

to the one who is despised⁶ and rejected⁷ by nations,⁸

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect,⁹

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

[35:2] ¹tn The ambiguous verb form תִּפְרַח (tifrakh) is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel).

[35:2] ²tn Heb “and let it rejoice, yes [with] rejoicing and shouting.” גִּילַת (gilat) may be an archaic feminine nominal form (see GKC 421 §130.b).

[35:2] ³tn Or “glory” (KJV, NIV, NRSV); also a second time later in this verse.

[49:7] ⁴tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:7] ⁵sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[49:7] ⁶tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a לבזוי, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, לִבְזוּי (livzuy, “to the one despised with respect to life” [נֶפֶשׁ is a genitive of specification]). The consonantal sequence וי was probably misread as ה in the MT tradition. The contextual argument favors the 1QIsa^a reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”

[49:7] ⁷tn MT’s Piel participle (“to the one who rejects”) does not fit contextually. The form should be revocalized as a Pual, “to the one rejected.”

[49:7] ⁸tn Parallelism (see “rulers,” “kings,” “princes”) suggests that the singular גּוֹי (goy) be emended to a plural or understood in a collective sense (see 55:5).

[49:7] ⁹tn For this sense of קוּם (qum), see Gen 19:1; 23:7; 33:10; Lev 19:32; 1 Sam 20:41; 25:41; 1 Kgs 2:19; Job 29:8.