Discovery BoxIsaiah 8:11
Context8:11 Indeed this is what the Lord told me. He took hold of me firmly and warned me not to act like these people: 1
Isaiah 21:1
Context21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: 2
Like strong winds blowing in the south, 3
one invades from the desert,
from a land that is feared.
[8:11] 1 tc Heb “with strength of hand and he warned me from walking in the way of these people, saying.” Some want to change the pointing of the suffix and thereby emend the Qal imperfect יִסְּרֵנִי (yissÿreni, “he was warning me”) to the more common Piel perfect יִסְּרַנִי (yissÿrani, “he warned me”). Others follow the lead of the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and read יְסִירֵנִי (yÿsireni, “he was turning me aside,” a Hiphil imperfect from סוּר, sur).
[21:1] 2 sn The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “desert” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like a desolate desert.
