Isaiah 9:17

Context

9:17 So the sovereign master was not pleased¹ with their young men,

he took no pity² on their orphans and widows;

for the whole nation was godless³ and did wicked things,⁴

every mouth was speaking disgraceful words.⁵

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again.⁶

Isaiah 32:6

Context

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things;⁷

his mind plans out sinful deeds.⁸

He commits godless deeds⁹

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite¹⁰

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.¹¹

[9:17] ¹tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has לא יחמול (“he did not spare”) which is an obvious attempt to tighten the parallelism (note “he took no pity” in the next line). Instead of taking שָׂמַח (samakh) in one of its well attested senses (“rejoice over, be pleased with”), some propose, with support from Arabic, a rare homonymic root meaning “be merciful.”

[9:17] ²tn The translation understands the prefixed verbs יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) and יְרַחֵם (yÿrakhem) as preterites without vav (ו) consecutive. (See v. 11 and the note on “he stirred up.”)

[9:17] ³tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”

[9:17] ⁴tn מֵרַע (mera’) is a Hiphil participle from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil”). The intransitive Hiphil has an exhibitive force here, indicating that they exhibited outwardly the evidence of an inward condition by committing evil deeds.

[9:17] ⁵tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.

[9:17] ⁶tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[32:6] ⁷tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

[32:6] ⁸tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

[32:6] ⁹tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

[32:6] ¹⁰tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

[32:6] ¹¹tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”