Isaiah 38:12

38:12 My dwelling place ¹  is removed and taken away ²  from me

like a shepherd’s tent.

I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth; ³ 

from the loom he cuts me off. ⁴ 

You turn day into night and end my life. ⁵ 

[38:12]  ¹ tn According to HALOT 217 s.v. דּוֹר this noun is a hapax legomenon meaning “dwelling place,” derived from a verbal root meaning “live” (see Ps 84:10). For an interpretation that understands the form as the well-attested noun meaning “generation,” see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:679, n. 4.

[38:12]  ² tn The verb form appears to be a Niphal from גָּלָה (galah), which normally means “uncovered, revealed” in the Niphal. Because of the following reference to a shepherd’s tent, some prefer to emend the form to וְנָגַל, a Niphal from גָלָל (galal, “roll”) and translate “is rolled [or “folded”] up.”

[38:12]  ³ tn Heb “I rolled up, like a weaver, my life” (so ASV).

[38:12]  ⁴ sn For a discussion of the imagery employed here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:684.

[38:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”