Isaiah 5:26

5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, ¹ 

he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.

Look, they ²  come quickly and swiftly.

Isaiah 7:18

7:18 At that time ³  the Lord will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. ⁴ 

Isaiah 11:11-12

11:11 At that time ⁵  the sovereign master ⁶  will again lift his hand ⁷  to reclaim ⁸  the remnant of his people ⁹  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ¹⁰  Cush, ¹¹  Elam, Shinar, ¹²  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ¹³ 

11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people ¹⁴ 

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

Isaiah 27:12-13

27:12 At that time ¹⁵  the Lord will shake the tree, ¹⁶  from the Euphrates River ¹⁷  to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites. ¹⁸  27:13 At that time ¹⁹  a large ²⁰  trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost ²¹  in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in ²²  the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. ²³ 

Isaiah 55:1-3

The Lord Gives an Invitation

55:1 “Hey, ²⁴  all who are thirsty, come to the water!

You who have no money, come!

Buy and eat!

Come! Buy wine and milk

without money and without cost! ²⁵ 

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ²⁶ 

Why spend ²⁷  your hard-earned money ²⁸  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ²⁹  to me and eat what is nourishing! ³⁰ 

Enjoy fine food! ³¹ 

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ³² 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ³³  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ³⁴ 

Matthew 11:28

11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Revelation 22:17

22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.

[5:26]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has literally, “for nations from a distance.” The following verses use singular forms to describe this nation, so the final mem (ם) on לְגּוֹיִם (lÿgoyim) may be enclitic or dittographic. In the latter case one could read לְגוֹי מֵרָחוֹק (lÿgoy merakhoq, “for a nation from a distance”; see Deut 28:49; Joel 3:8). Another possibility is to emend the text from לַגּוֹיִם מֵרָחוֹק (laggoyim merakhoq) to לְגוֹי מִמֶּרְחָק (lÿgoy mimmerkhaq, “for a nation from a distant place”) a phrase which occurs in Jer 5:15. In this case an error of misdivision has occurred in MT, the mem of the prefixed preposition being accidentally taken as a plural ending on the preceding word.

[5:26]  ² tn Heb “he.” Singular forms are used throughout vv. 26-30 to describe this nation, but for stylistic reasons the translation uses the plural for these collective singulars.

[7:18]  ³ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[7:18]  ⁴ sn Swarming flies are irritating; bees are irritating and especially dangerous because of the pain they inflict with their sting (see Deut 1:44; Ps 118:12). The metaphors are well chosen, for the Assyrians (symbolized by the bees) were much more powerful and dangerous than the Egyptians (symbolized by the flies). Nevertheless both would put pressure on Judah, for Egypt wanted Judah as a buffer state against Assyrian aggression, while Assyrian wanted it as a base for operations against Egypt. Following the reference to sour milk and honey, the metaphor is especially apt, for flies are attracted to dairy products and bees can be found in the vicinity of honey.

[11:11]  ⁵ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:11]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[11:11]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads, “the sovereign master will again, a second time, his hand.” The auxiliary verb יוֹסִיף (yosif), which literally means “add,” needs a main verb to complete it. Consequently many emend שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) to an infinitive. Some propose the form שַׁנֹּת (shannot, a Piel infinitive construct from שָׁנָה, shanah) and relate it semantically to an Arabic cognate meaning “to be high.” If the Hebrew text is retained a verb must be supplied. “Second time” would allude back to the events of the Exodus (see vv. 15-16).

[11:11]  ⁸ tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”

[11:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰ sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).

[11:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:11]  ¹² tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[11:11]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”

[11:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.

[27:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[27:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord will beat out.” The verb is used of beating seeds or grain to separate the husk from the kernel (see Judg 6:11; Ruth 2:17; Isa 28:27), and of beating the olives off the olive tree (Deut 24:20). The latter metaphor may be in view here, where a tree metaphor has been employed in the preceding verses. See also 17:6.

[27:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the river,” a frequent designation in the OT for the Euphrates. For clarity most modern English versions substitute the name “Euphrates” for “the river” here.

[27:12]  ¹⁸ sn The Israelites will be freed from exile (likened to beating the olives off the tree) and then gathered (likened to collecting the olives).

[27:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[27:13]  ²⁰ tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”

[27:13]  ²¹ tn Or “the ones perishing.”

[27:13]  ²² tn Or “the ones driven into.”

[27:13]  ²³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[55:1]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments and is often prefixed to judgment oracles for rhetorical effect. But here it appears to be a simple interjection, designed to grab the audience’s attention. Perhaps there is a note of sorrow or pity. See BDB 223 s.v.

[55:1]  ²⁵ sn The statement is an oxymoron. Its ironic quality adds to its rhetorical impact. The statement reminds one of the norm (one must normally buy commodities) as it expresses the astounding offer. One might paraphrase the statement: “Come and take freely what you normally have to pay for.”

[55:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ²⁷ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ²⁹ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

[55:3]  ³² tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  ³³ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”