Discovery BoxIsaiah 48:9-11
Context48:9 For the sake of my reputation 1 I hold back my anger;
for the sake of my prestige 2 I restrain myself from destroying you. 3
48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have purified you 4 in the furnace of misery.
48:11 For my sake alone 5 I will act,
for how can I allow my name to be defiled? 6
I will not share my glory with anyone else! 7
[48:9] 1 tn Heb “for the sake of my name” (so NAB, NASB); NLT “for my own sake.”
[48:9] 2 tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[48:9] 3 tn Heb “I restrain [myself] concerning you not to cut you off.”
[48:10] 4 tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bÿkhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.
[48:11] 5 tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lÿma’ani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.
[48:11] 6 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).
