Discovery BoxIsaiah 66:1-22
Context66:1 This is what the Lord says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
that is how they came to be,” 2 says the Lord.
I show special favor 3 to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say. 4
66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; 5
the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; 6
the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; 7
the one who offers incense also praises an idol. 8
They have decided to behave this way; 9
they enjoy these disgusting practices. 10
66:4 So I will choose severe punishment 11 for them;
I will bring on them what they dread,
because I called, and no one responded,
I spoke and they did not listen.
They did evil before me; 12
they chose to do what displeases me.”
66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who respect what he has to say! 13
Your countrymen, 14 who hate you
and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,
say, “May the Lord be glorified,
then we will witness your joy.” 15
But they will be put to shame.
66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city;
the sound comes from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.
66:7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!
Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!
66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country 16 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!
66:9 “Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”
asks the Lord.
“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”
asks your God. 17
66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem
and rejoice with her, all you who love her!
Share in her great joy,
all you who have mourned over her!
66:11 For 18 you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; 19
you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. 20
66:12 For this is what the Lord says:
“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,
the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. 21
You will nurse from her breast 22 and be carried at her side;
you will play on her knees.
66:13 As a mother consoles a child, 23
so I will console you,
and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, 24
and you will be revived. 25
The Lord will reveal his power to his servants
and his anger to his enemies. 26
66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,
his chariots come like a windstorm, 27
to reveal his raging anger,
his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. 28
66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity 29
with fire and his sword;
the Lord will kill many. 30
66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, 31 those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice 32 – they will all be destroyed together,” 33 says the Lord. 66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming 34 to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; 35 they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them 36 and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, 37 Lud 38 (known for its archers 39 ), Tubal, Javan, 40 and to the distant coastlands 41 that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen 42 from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them 43 on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels 44 to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. 66:21 And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. 66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain.
[66:2] 1 tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.
[66:2] 2 tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”
[66:2] 3 tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).
[66:2] 4 tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”
[66:3] 5 tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.
[66:3] 6 tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.
[66:3] 7 tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.
[66:3] 8 tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.
[66:3] 9 tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”
[66:3] 10 tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”
[66:4] 11 tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”
[66:4] 12 tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”
[66:5] 13 tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”
[66:5] 14 tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”
[66:5] 15 tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.
[66:8] 16 tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).
[66:9] 17 sn The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “Of course not!”
[66:11] 18 tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”
[66:11] 19 tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”
[66:11] 20 tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”
[66:12] 21 tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”
[66:12] 22 tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).
[66:13] 23 tn Heb “like a man whose mother comforts him.”
[66:14] 24 tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”
[66:14] 25 tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”
[66:14] 26 tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”
[66:15] 27 sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.
[66:15] 28 tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”
[66:16] 29 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”
[66:16] 30 tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”
[66:17] 31 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] 32 tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”
[66:17] 33 tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”
[66:18] 34 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
[66:18] 35 tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”
[66:19] 36 tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).
[66:19] 37 tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).
[66:19] 38 sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).
[66:19] 39 tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).
[66:19] 40 sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).
[66:19] 41 tn Or “islands” (NIV).
[66:20] 42 tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”
[66:20] 43 tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[66:20] 44 tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.
