Discovery BoxIsaiah 9:1
Context9:1 (8:23) 1 The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. 2
In earlier times he 3 humiliated
the land of Zebulun,
and the land of Naphtali; 4
but now he brings honor 5
to the way of the sea,
the region beyond the Jordan,
and Galilee of the nations. 6
Isaiah 9:7
Context9:7 His dominion will be vast 7
and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. 8
He will rule on David’s throne
and over David’s kingdom, 9
establishing it 10 and strengthening it
by promoting justice and fairness, 11
from this time forward and forevermore.
The Lord’s intense devotion to his people 12 will accomplish this.
Isaiah 33:1
Context33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, 13
you who have not been destroyed!
The deceitful one is as good as dead, 14
the one whom others have not deceived!
When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;
when you finish 15 deceiving, others will deceive you!
Isaiah 37:30
Context37:30 16 “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: 17 This year you will eat what grows wild, 18 and next year 19 what grows on its own. But the year after that 20 you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 21
Isaiah 44:13
Context44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; 22
he marks out an outline of its form; 23
he scrapes 24 it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form, 25
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine. 26
Isaiah 49:8
Context49:8 This is what the Lord says:
“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;
in the day of deliverance I will help you;
I will protect you 27 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 28
and to reassign the desolate property.
Isaiah 50:11
Context50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire
and who equip yourselves with 31 flaming arrows, 32
walk 33 in the light 34 of the fire you started
and among the flaming arrows you ignited! 35
This is what you will receive from me: 36
you will lie down in a place of pain. 37
Isaiah 54:1
Context54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!
Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one are more numerous
than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 62:4
Context62:4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”
and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”
Indeed, 38 you will be called “My Delight is in Her,” 39
and your land “Married.” 40
For the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married to him. 41
Isaiah 65:1
Context65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; 42
I appeared to those who did not look for me. 43
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation that did not invoke 44 my name.
[9:1] 1 sn In the Hebrew text (BHS) the chapter division comes one verse later than in the English Bible; 9:1 (8:23 HT). Thus 9:2-21 in the English Bible = 9:1-20 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
[9:1] 2 tn The Hebrew text reads, “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her.” The feminine singular pronominal suffix “her” must refer to the land (cf. vv. 22a, 23b). So one could translate, “Indeed there will be no gloom for the land which was anxious.” In this case the statement introduces the positive message to follow. Some assume an emendation of לֹא (lo’, “no”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and of לָהּ (lah, “to her”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”), yielding this literal reading: “indeed there is gloom for him, for the one to whom there was anxiety for him.” In this case the statement concludes the preceding description of judgment.
[9:1] 3 tn The Lord must be understood as the subject of the two verbs in this verse.
[9:1] 4 sn The statement probably alludes to the Assyrian conquest of Israel in ca. 734-733
[9:1] 5 tn Heb Just as in earlier times he humiliated…, [in] the latter times he has brought honor.” The main verbs in vv. 1b-4 are Hebrew perfects. The prophet takes his rhetorical stance in the future age of restoration and describes future events as if they have already occurred. To capture the dramatic effect of the original text, the translation uses the English present or present perfect.
[9:1] 6 sn These three geographical designations may refer to provinces established by the Assyrians in 734-733
[9:7] 7 tc The Hebrew text has לְםַרְבֵּה (lÿmarbeh), which is a corrupt reading. לם is dittographic; note the preceding word, שָׁלוֹם (shalom). The corrected text reads literally, “great is the dominion.”
[9:7] 8 tn Heb “and to peace there will be no end” (KJV and ASV both similar). On the political and socio-economic sense of שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in this context, see the note at v. 6 on “Prince of Peace.”
[9:7] 9 tn Heb “over the throne of David, and over his kingdom.” The referent of the pronoun “his” (i.e., David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 10 tn The feminine singular pronominal suffix on this form and the following one (translated “it” both times) refers back to the grammatically feminine noun “kingdom.”
[9:7] 11 tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”
[9:7] 12 tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to vindicate them and to fulfill his promises to David and the nation.
[33:1] 13 tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”
[33:1] 14 tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.
[33:1] 15 tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”
[37:30] 19 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).
[37:30] 20 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
[37:30] 21 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
[37:30] 22 tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).
[37:30] 23 tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).
[37:30] 24 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.
[44:13] 25 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
[44:13] 26 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
[44:13] 27 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
[44:13] 28 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
[44:13] 29 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”
[49:8] 31 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).
[49:8] 32 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.
[49:8] 33 tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”
[49:8] 34 tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.
[50:11] 37 tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).
[50:11] 38 tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.
[50:11] 39 tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.
[50:11] 40 tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).
[50:11] 41 sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.
[50:11] 42 tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[50:11] 43 sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.
[62:4] 43 tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”
[62:4] 44 tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi-vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).
[62:4] 45 tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bÿ’ulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).
[62:4] 46 tn That is, the land will be restored to the Lord’s favor and once again enjoy his blessing and protection. To indicate the land’s relationship to the Lord, the words “to him” have been supplied at the end of the clause.
[65:1] 49 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”
[65:1] 50 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”
