Discovery BoxIsaiah 43:14
Context43:14 This is what the Lord says,
your protector, 1 the Holy One of Israel: 2
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and make them all fugitives, 3
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. 4
Isaiah 27:1
Context27:1 At that time 5 the Lord will punish
with his destructive, 6 great, and powerful sword
Leviathan the fast-moving 7 serpent,
Leviathan the squirming serpent;
he will kill the sea monster. 8
[43:14] 1 tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[43:14] 2 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[43:14] 3 tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”
[43:14] 4 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.
[27:1] 5 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).
[27:1] 6 tn Heb “hard, severe”; cf. NAB, NRSV “cruel”; KJV “sore”; NLT “terrible.”
[27:1] 7 tn Heb “fleeing” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Some translate “slippery” or “slithering.”
[27:1] 8 tn The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon (Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַנִּין [tannin, translated “sea monster” here]) vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling (Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן [’aqallaton, translated “squirming” here]) serpent, the tyrant with seven heads (cf. Ps 74:14).” (See CTA 3 iii 38-39.) (2) “for all that you smote Leviathan the slippery (Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ [bariakh, translated “fast-moving” here]) serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5 i 1-3.)
