Discovery BoxIsaiah 8:1
Context8:1 The Lord told me, “Take a large tablet 1 and inscribe these words 2 on it with an ordinary stylus: 3 ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’ 4
Isaiah 30:8-9
Context30:8 Now go, write it 5 down on a tablet in their presence, 6
inscribe it on a scroll,
so that it might be preserved for a future time
as an enduring witness. 7
30:9 For these are rebellious people –
they are lying children,
children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. 8
Habakkuk 2:2-3
Context“Write down this message! 10 Record it legibly on tablets,
so the one who announces 11 it may read it easily. 12
2:3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed; 13
it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. 14
Even if the message 15 is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; 16
for it will certainly come to pass – it will not arrive late.
[8:1] 1 sn Probably made of metal, wood, or leather. See HALOT 193 s.v. גִּלָּיוֹן.
[8:1] 2 tn Heb “write” (so KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV).
[8:1] 3 tn Heb “with the stylus of a man.” The significance of the qualifying genitive “a man” is uncertain. For various interpretations see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:219, n. 1.
[8:1] 4 tn Heb “quickly, [the] plunder; it hurries, [the] loot.” The first word (מַהֵר, maher) is either a Piel imperative (“hurry [to]”) or infinitive (“hurrying,” or “quickly”). The third word (חָשׁ, khash) is either a third masculine singular perfect or a masculine singular participle, in either case from the root חוּשׁ (khush, “hurry”). Perhaps it is best to translate, “One hastens to the plunder, one hurries to the loot.” In this case מַהֵר is understood as an infinitive functioning as a verb, the subject of חוּשׁ is taken as indefinite, and the two nouns are understood as adverbial accusatives. As we discover in v. 3, this is the name of the son to be born to Isaiah through the prophetess.
[30:8] 5 tn The referent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix is uncertain. Perhaps it refers to the preceding message, which accuses the people of rejecting the Lord’s help in favor of an alliance with Egypt.
[30:8] 6 tn Heb “with them.” On the use of the preposition here, see BDB 86 s.v. II אֵת.
[30:8] 7 sn Recording the message will enable the prophet to use it in the future as evidence that God warned his people of impending judgment and clearly spelled out the nation’s guilt. An official record of the message will also serve as proof of the prophet’s authority as God’s spokesman.
[30:9] 8 tn Or perhaps, “instruction” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV, TEV “teachings.”
[2:2] 9 tn Heb “the
[2:2] 10 tn Heb “[the] vision.”
[2:2] 12 tn Heb “might run,” which here probably means “run [through it quickly with one’s eyes],” that is, read it easily.
[2:3] 13 tn Heb “For the vision is still for the appointed time.” The Hebrew word עוֹד (’od, “still”) is better emended to עֵד (’ed, “witness”) in light of the parallelism (see the note on the word “turn out” in the following line). The “appointed time” refers to the time when the divine judgment anticipated in vv. 6-20 will be realized.
[2:3] 14 tn Heb “and a witness to the end and it does not lie.” The Hebrew term יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) has been traditionally understood as a verb form from the root פּוּחַ (puakh, “puff, blow”; cf. NEB “it will come in breathless haste”; NASB “it hastens toward the goal”) but recent scholarship has demonstrated that it is actually a noun meaning “witness” (cf. NIV “it speaks of the end / and will not prove false”; NRSV “it speaks of the end, and does not lie”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 106. “The end” corresponds to “the appointed time” of the preceding line and refers to the time when the prophecy to follow will be fulfilled.
[2:3] 15 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the message) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:3] 16 tn Heb “If it should delay, wait for it.” The Hebrew word חָזוֹן (khazon, “vision, message”) is the subject of the third person verbs in v. 3 and the antecedent of the pronominal suffix in the phrase “for it.”
