Isaiah 5:10

5:10 Indeed, a large vineyard ¹  will produce just a few gallons, ² 

and enough seed to yield several bushels ³  will produce less than a bushel.” ⁴ 

Isaiah 66:17

66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, ⁵  those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice ⁶  – they will all be destroyed together,” ⁷  says the Lord.

Isaiah 34:16

34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! ⁸ 

Not one of these creatures will be missing, ⁹ 

none will lack a mate. ¹⁰ 

For the Lord has issued the decree, ¹¹ 

and his own spirit gathers them. ¹² 

Isaiah 66:8

66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen this?

Can a country ¹³  be brought forth in one day?

Can a nation be born in a single moment?

Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

[5:10]  ¹ tn Heb “a ten-yoke vineyard.” The Hebrew term צֶמֶד (tsemed, “yoke”) is here a unit of square measure. Apparently a ten-yoke vineyard covered the same amount of land it would take ten teams of oxen to plow in a certain period of time. The exact size is unknown.

[5:10]  ² tn Heb “one bath.” A bath was a liquid measure. Estimates of its modern equivalent range from approximately six to twelve gallons.

[5:10]  ³ tn Heb “a homer.” A homer was a dry measure, the exact size of which is debated. Cf. NCV “ten bushels”; CEV “five bushels.”

[5:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “an ephah.” An ephah was a dry measure; there were ten ephahs in a homer. So this verse envisions major crop failure, where only one-tenth of the anticipated harvest is realized.

[66:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.

[66:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”

[66:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”

[34:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”

[34:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”

[34:16]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and a few medieval mss have פִּיהוּ (pihu, “his mouth [has commanded]”), while a few other medieval mss read פִּי יְהוָה (pi yÿhvah, “the mouth of the Lord [has commanded]”).

[34:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[66:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).