Isaiah 5:23

5:23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,

they ignore the just cause of the innocent. ¹ 

Isaiah 59:11

59:11 We all growl like bears,

we coo mournfully like doves;

we wait for deliverance, ²  but there is none,

for salvation, but it is far from us.

Isaiah 53:3

53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, ³ 

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him; ⁴ 

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ⁵ 

Isaiah 59:9

Israel Confesses its Sin

59:9 For this reason deliverance ⁶  is far from us ⁷ 

and salvation does not reach us.

We wait for light, ⁸  but see only darkness; ⁹ 

we wait for ¹⁰  a bright light, ¹¹  but live ¹²  in deep darkness. ¹³ 

Isaiah 64:7

64:7 No one invokes ¹⁴  your name,

or makes an effort ¹⁵  to take hold of you.

For you have rejected us ¹⁶ 

and handed us over to our own sins. ¹⁷ 

[5:23]  ¹ tn Heb “and the just cause of the innocent ones they turn aside from him.”

[59:11]  ² tn See the note at v. 9.

[53:3]  ³ tn Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 HT [39:4 ET]).

[53:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see BDB 712 s.v. מַסְתֵּר).

[53:3]  ⁵ sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.

[59:9]  ⁴ tn מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), which refers to “justice” in the earlier verses, here refers to “justice from God,” or “vindication.” Because the people are unjust, God refuses to vindicate them before their enemies. See v. 11.

[59:9]  ⁵ sn The prophet speaks on behalf of the sinful nation and confesses its sins.

[59:9]  ⁶ sn Light here symbolizes prosperity and blessing.

[59:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “but, look, darkness”; NIV “but all is darkness.”

[59:9]  ⁸ tn The words “we wait for” are supplied in the translation; the verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[59:9]  ⁹ tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.

[59:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “walk about”; NCV “all we have is darkness.”

[59:9]  ¹¹ tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.

[64:7]  ⁵ tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”

[64:7]  ⁶ tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”

[64:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”

[64:7]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.