Isaiah 40:20

40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; ¹ 

he then seeks a skilled craftsman

to make ²  an idol that will not fall over.

Isaiah 41:17

41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched from thirst.

I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ³ 

I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

Isaiah 45:19

45:19 I have not spoken in secret,

in some hidden place. ⁴ 

I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,

‘Seek me in vain!’ ⁵ 

I am the Lord,

the one who speaks honestly,

who makes reliable announcements. ⁶ 

Isaiah 51:1

There is Hope for the Future

51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, ⁷ 

who seek the Lord!

Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,

at the quarry ⁸  from which you were dug! ⁹ 

Isaiah 65:1

The Lord Will Distinguish Between Sinners and the Godly

65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ¹⁰ 

I appeared to those who did not look for me. ¹¹ 

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

to a nation that did not invoke ¹²  my name.

[40:20]  ¹ tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.

[40:20]  ² tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”

[41:17]  ³ tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[45:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”

[45:19]  ⁶ tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”

[45:19]  ⁷ tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”

[51:1]  ⁷ tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”

[51:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”

[51:1]  ⁹ sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.

[65:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”

[65:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”

[65:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”