Isaiah 38:10

38:10 “I thought, ¹ 

‘In the middle of my life ²  I must walk through the gates of Sheol,

I am deprived ³  of the rest of my years.’

Isaiah 62:7

62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, ⁴ 

until he makes Jerusalem the pride ⁵  of the earth.

Isaiah 62:6

62:6 I ⁶  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

they should keep praying all day and all night. ⁷ 

You who pray to ⁸  the Lord, don’t be silent!

[38:10]  ¹ tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[38:10]  ² tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).

[38:10]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”

[62:7]  ⁴ tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.

[62:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”

[62:6]  ⁷ sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.

[62:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.

[62:6]  ⁹ tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”