Isaiah 59:1

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak ¹  to deliver you;

his ear is not too deaf to hear you. ² 

Isaiah 33:19

33:19 You will no longer see a defiant ³  people

whose language you do not comprehend, ⁴ 

whose derisive speech you do not understand. ⁵ 

Isaiah 59:2

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. ⁶ 

[59:1]  ¹ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[59:1]  ² tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”

[33:19]  ³ tn The Hebrew form נוֹעָז (no’az) is a Niphal participle derived from יָעַז (ya’az, an otherwise unattested verb) or from עָזָז (’azaz, “be strong,” unattested elsewhere in the Niphal). Some prefer to emend the form to לוֹעֵז (lo’ez) which occurs in Ps 114:1 with the meaning “speak a foreign language.” See HALOT 809 s.v. עזז, 533 s.v. לעז. In this case, one might translate “people who speak a foreign language.”

[33:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “a people too deep of lip to hear.” The phrase “deep of lip” must be an idiom meaning “lips that speak words that are unfathomable [i.e., incomprehensible].”

[33:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “derision of tongue there is no understanding.” The Niphal of לָעַג (la’ag) occurs only here. In the Qal and Hiphil the verb means “to deride, mock.” A related noun is used in 28:11.

[59:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”