Isaiah 8:19

Darkness Turns to Light as an Ideal King Arrives

8:19 ¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

Isaiah 44:25

44:25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers ⁴ 

and humiliates ⁵  the omen readers,

who overturns the counsel of the wise men ⁶ 

and makes their advice ⁷  seem foolish,

Isaiah 47:9-13

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. ⁸ 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, ⁹ 

despite ¹⁰  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. ¹¹ 

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; ¹² 

you thought, ¹³  ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed ¹⁴  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ¹⁵ 

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away. ¹⁶ 

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it. ¹⁷ 

47:12 Persist ¹⁸  in trusting ¹⁹  your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited ²⁰  since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful ²¹  –

maybe you will scare away disaster. ²² 

47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ²³ 

Let them take their stand –

the ones who see omens in the sky,

who gaze at the stars,

who make monthly predictions –

let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ²⁴ 

Galatians 3:1

Justification by Law or by Faith?

3:1 You ²⁵  foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell ²⁶  on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed ²⁷  as crucified!

[8:19]  ¹ tn It is uncertain if the prophet or the Lord is speaking in vv. 19-22. If the latter, then vv. 19-22 resume the speech recorded in vv. 12-15, after the prophet’s response in vv. 16-18.

[8:19]  ² tn Heb “inquire of the ritual pits and of the magicians who chirp and mutter.” The Hebrew word אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a אוֹב-בַּעֲלַת (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.

[8:19]  ³ tn Heb “Should a nation not inquire of its gods on behalf of the living, (by inquiring) of the dead?” These words appear to be a continuation of the quotation begun in the first part of the verse. אֱלֹהָיו (’elohayv) may be translated “its gods” or “its God.” Some take the second half of the verse as the prophet’s (or the Lord’s) rebuke of the people who advise seeking oracles at the ritual pits, but in this case the words “the dead on behalf of the living” are difficult to explain.

[44:25]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has בַּדִּים (baddim), perhaps meaning “empty talkers” (BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד). In the four other occurrences of this word (Job 11:3; Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30; 50:36) the context does not make the meaning of the term very clear. Its primary point appears to be that the words spoken are meaningless or false. In light of its parallelism with “omen readers,” some have proposed an emendation to בָּרִים (barim, “seers”). The Mesopotamian baru-priests were divination specialists who played an important role in court life. See R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 93-98. Rather than supporting an emendation, J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:189, n. 79) suggests that Isaiah used בַּדִּים purposively as a derisive wordplay on the Akkadian word baru (in light of the close similarity of the d and r consonants).

[44:25]  ⁵ tn Or “makes fools of” (NIV, NRSV); NAB and NASB both similar.

[44:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “who turns back the wise” (so NRSV); NIV “overthrows the learning of the wise”; TEV “The words of the wise I refute.”

[44:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “their knowledge” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[47:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.

[47:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

[47:9]  ¹⁰ tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

[47:9]  ¹¹ sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.

[47:10]  ¹² tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”

[47:10]  ¹³ tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”

[47:10]  ¹⁴ tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[47:10]  ¹⁵ tn See the note at v. 8.

[47:11]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.

[47:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”

[47:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”

[47:12]  ¹⁹ tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.

[47:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”

[47:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”

[47:12]  ²² tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.

[47:13]  ²³ tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”

[47:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”

[3:1]  ²⁵ tn Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.

[3:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω (baskainw) can be understood literally here in the sense of bewitching by black magic, but could also be understood figuratively to refer to an act of deception (see L&N 53.98 and 88.159).

[3:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).