Discovery BoxJob 38:4-41
Context38:4 “Where were you
when I laid the foundation 1 of the earth?
Tell me, 2 if you possess understanding!
38:5 Who set its measurements – if 3 you know –
or who stretched a measuring line across it?
38:6 On what 4 were its bases 5 set,
or who laid its cornerstone –
38:7 when the morning stars 6 sang 7 in chorus, 8
and all the sons of God 9 shouted for joy?
38:8 “Who shut up 10 the sea with doors
when it burst forth, 11 coming out of the womb,
38:9 when I made 12 the storm clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band, 13
38:10 when I prescribed 14 its limits,
and set 15 in place its bolts and doors,
38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come 16
and no farther, 17
here your proud waves will be confined’? 18
38:12 Have you ever in your life 19 commanded the morning,
or made the dawn know 20 its place,
38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, 21
and shake the wicked out of it?
38:14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; 22
its features 23 are dyed 24 like a garment.
38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm raised in violence 25 is broken. 26
38:16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, 27
or walked about in the recesses of the deep?
38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? 28
Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness? 29
38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know it all!
38:19 “In what direction 30 does light reside,
and darkness, where is its place,
38:20 that you may take them to their borders
and perceive the pathways to their homes? 31
38:21 You know, for you were born before them; 32
and the number of your days is great!
38:22 Have you entered the storehouse 33 of the snow,
or seen the armory 34 of the hail,
38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,
for the day of war and battle? 35
38:24 In what direction is lightning 36 dispersed,
or the east winds scattered over the earth?
38:25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,
and a path for the rumble of thunder,
38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, 37
a desert where there are no human beings, 38
38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,
and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? 39
38:28 Does the rain have a father,
or who has fathered the drops of the dew?
38:29 From whose womb does the ice emerge,
and the frost from the sky, 40 who gives birth to it,
38:30 when the waters become hard 41 like stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?
38:31 Can you tie the bands 42 of the Pleiades,
or release the cords of Orion?
38:32 Can you lead out
the constellations 43 in their seasons,
or guide the Bear with its cubs? 44
38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,
or can you set up their rule over the earth?
38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you? 45
38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?
Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart, 46
or has imparted understanding to the mind?
38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,
and who can tip over 47 the water jars of heaven,
38:38 when the dust hardens 48 into a mass,
and the clumps of earth stick together?
38:39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness,
and satisfy the appetite 49 of the lions,
38:40 when they crouch in their dens,
when they wait in ambush in the thicket?
38:41 Who prepares prey for the raven,
when its young cry out to God
and wander about 50 for lack of food?
Psalms 104:2-35
Context104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. 51
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels along on the wings of the wind. 52
104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,
and the flaming fire his attendant. 53
104:5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be upended.
104:6 The watery deep covered it 54 like a garment;
the waters reached 55 above the mountains. 56
104:7 Your shout made the waters retreat;
at the sound of your thunderous voice they hurried off –
104:8 as the mountains rose up,
and the valleys went down –
to the place you appointed for them. 57
104:9 You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,
so that they would not cover the earth again. 58
104:10 He turns springs into streams; 59
they flow between the mountains.
104:11 They provide water for all the animals in the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
104:12 The birds of the sky live beside them;
they chirp among the bushes. 60
104:13 He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace; 61
the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow. 62
104:14 He provides grass 63 for the cattle,
and crops for people to cultivate, 64
so they can produce food from the ground, 65
104:15 as well as wine that makes people feel so good, 66
and so they can have oil to make their faces shine, 67
as well as food that sustains people’s lives. 68
104:16 The trees of the Lord 69 receive all the rain they need, 70
the cedars of Lebanon which he planted,
104:17 where the birds make nests,
near the evergreens in which the herons live. 71
104:18 The wild goats live in the high mountains; 72
the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.
104:19 He made the moon to mark the months, 73
and the sun sets according to a regular schedule. 74
104:20 You make it dark and night comes, 75
during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.
104:21 The lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God. 76
104:22 When the sun rises, they withdraw
and sleep 77 in their dens.
104:23 Men then go out to do their work,
and labor away until evening. 78
104:24 How many living things you have made, O Lord! 79
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; 80
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
104:25 Over here is the deep, wide sea, 81
which teems with innumerable swimming creatures, 82
living things both small and large.
104:26 The ships travel there,
and over here swims the whale 83 you made to play in it.
104:27 All of your creatures 84 wait for you
to provide them with food on a regular basis. 85
104:28 You give food to them and they receive it;
you open your hand and they are filled with food. 86
104:29 When you ignore them, they panic. 87
When you take away their life’s breath, they die
and return to dust.
104:30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
104:31 May the splendor of the Lord endure! 88
May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made! 89
104:32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.
104:33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist! 90
104:34 May my thoughts 91 be pleasing to him!
I will rejoice in the Lord.
104:35 May sinners disappear 92 from the earth,
and the wicked vanish!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Isaiah 40:12-31
Context40:12 Who has measured out the waters 93 in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully 94 measured the sky, 95
or carefully weighed 96 the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales? 97
40:13 Who comprehends 98 the mind 99 of the Lord,
or gives him instruction as his counselor? 100
40:14 From whom does he receive directions? 101
Who 102 teaches him the correct way to do things, 103
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design? 104
40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales.
He lifts 105 the coastlands 106 as if they were dust.
40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; 107
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. 108
40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;
they are regarded as absolutely nothing. 109
40:18 To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
40:19 A craftsman casts 110 an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; 111
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make 112 an idol that will not fall over.
40:21 Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; 113
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. 114
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, 115
and spreads it out 116 like a pitched tent. 117
40:23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
40:24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
40:25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One. 118
Who created all these heavenly lights? 120
He is the one who leads out their ranks; 121
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
40:27 Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me, 122
My God is not concerned with my vindication”? 123
40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth. 124
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom. 125
40:29 He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble. 126
40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help 127 find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, 128
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
Isaiah 53:8
Context53:8 He was led away after an unjust trial 129 –
but who even cared? 130
Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; 131
because of the rebellion of his own 132 people he was wounded.
[38:4] 1 tn The construction is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause, using the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix.
[38:4] 2 tn The verb is the imperative; it has no object “me” in the text.
[38:5] 3 tn The particle כּ (ki) is taken here for a conditional clause, “if you know” (see GKC 498 §159.dd). Others take it as “surely” with a biting irony.
[38:6] 4 tn For the interrogative serving as a genitive, see GKC 442 §136.b.
[38:6] 5 sn The world was conceived of as having bases and pillars, but these poetic descriptions should not be pressed too far (e.g., see Ps 24:2, which may be worded as much for its polemics against Canaanite mythology as anything).
[38:7] 6 sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).
[38:7] 7 tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.
[38:7] 8 tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.
[38:8] 10 tn The MT has “and he shut up.” The Vulgate has “Who?” and so many commentaries and editions adopt this reading, if not from the Vulgate, then from the sense of the sequence in the text itself.
[38:8] 11 tn The line uses two expressions, first the temporal clause with גִּיחַ (giakh, “when it burst forth”) and then the finite verb יֵצֵא (yetse’, “go out”) to mark the concomitance of the two actions.
[38:9] 12 tn The temporal clause here uses the infinitive from שִׂים (sim, “to place; to put; to make”). It underscores the sovereign placing of things.
[38:9] 13 tn This noun is found only here. The verb is in Ezek 16:4, and a related noun is in Ezek 30:21.
[38:10] 14 tc The MT has “and I broke,” which cannot mean “set, prescribed” or the like. The LXX and the Vulgate have such a meaning, suggesting a verb עֲשִׁית (’ashiyt, “plan, prescribe”). A. Guillaume finds an Arabic word with a meaning “measured it by span by my decree.” Would God give himself a decree? R. Gordis simply argues that the basic meaning “break” develops the connotation of “decide, determine” (2 Sam 5:24; Job 14:3; Dan 11:36).
[38:10] 15 tn Dhorme suggested reversing the two verbs, making this the first, and then “shatter” for the second colon.
[38:11] 16 tn The imperfect verb receives the permission nuance here.
[38:11] 17 tn The text has תֹסִיף (tosif, “and you may not add”), which is often used idiomatically (as in verbal hendiadys constructions).
[38:11] 18 tn The MT literally says, “here he will put on the pride of your waves.” The verb has no expressed subject and so is made a passive voice. But there has to be some object for the verb “put,” such as “limit” or “boundary”; the translations “confined; halted; stopped” all serve to paraphrase such an idea. The LXX has “broken” at this point, suggesting the verse might have been confused – but “breaking the pride” of the waves would mean controlling them. Some commentators have followed this, exchanging the verb in v. 11 with this one.
[38:12] 19 tn The Hebrew idiom is “have you from your days?” It means “never in your life” (see 1 Sam 25:28; 1 Kgs 1:6).
[38:12] 20 tn The verb is the Piel of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) with a double accusative.
[38:13] 21 sn The poetic image is that darkness or night is like a blanket that covers the earth, and at dawn it is taken by the edges and shaken out. Since the wicked function under the cover of night, they are included in the shaking when the dawn comes up.
[38:14] 22 sn The verse needs to be understood in the context: as the light shines in the dawn, the features of the earth take on a recognizable shape or form. The language is phenomenological.
[38:14] 23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the objects or features on the earth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[38:14] 24 tc The MT reads “they stand up like a garment” (NASB, NIV) or “its features stand out like a garment” (ESV). The reference could be either to embroidered decoration on a garment or to the folds of a garment (REB: “until all things stand out like the folds of a cloak”; cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 497, “the early light of day makes the earth appear as a beautiful garment, exquisite in design and glorious in color”). Since this is thought to be an odd statement, some suggest with Ehrlich that the text be changed to תִּצָּבַּע (titsabba’, “is dyed [like a garment]”). This reference would be to the colors appearing on the earth’s surface under daylight. The present translation follows the emendation.
[38:15] 25 tn Heb “the raised arm.” The words “in violence” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
[38:15] 26 sn What is active at night, the violence symbolized by the raised arm, is broken with the dawn. G. R. Driver thought the whole verse referred to stars, and that the arm is the navigator’s term for the line of stars (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 208-12).
[38:16] 27 tn Heb “the springs of the sea.” The words “that fill” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the phrase.
[38:17] 28 tn Heb “uncovered to you.”
[38:17] 29 tn Some still retain the traditional phrase “shadow of death” in the English translation (cf. NIV). The reference is to the entrance to Sheol (see Job 10:21).
[38:19] 30 tn The interrogative with דֶרֶךְ (derekh) means “in what road” or “in what direction.”
[38:20] 31 tn The suffixes are singular (“that you may take it to its border…to its home”), referring to either the light or the darkness. Because either is referred to, the translation has employed plurals, since singulars would imply that only the second item, “darkness,” was the referent. Plurals are also employed by NAB and NIV.
[38:21] 32 tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (’az, “then”) functions as a preterite: “you were born.” The line is sarcastic.
[38:22] 33 sn Snow and ice are thought of as being in store, brought out by God for specific purposes, such as times of battle (see Josh 10:11; Exod 9:2ff.; Isa 28:17; Isa 30:30; and Ps 18:12 [13]).
[38:22] 34 tn The same Hebrew term (אוֹצָר, ’otsar), has been translated “storehouse” in the first line and “armory” in the second. This has been done for stylistic variation, but also because “hail,” as one of God’s “weapons” (cf. the following verse) suggests military imagery; in this context the word refers to God’s “ammunition dump” where he stockpiles hail.
[38:23] 35 sn The terms translated war and battle are different Hebrew words, but both may be translated “war” or “battle” depending on the context.
[38:24] 36 tn Because the parallel with “light” and “east wind” is not tight, Hoffmann proposed ‘ed instead, “mist.” This has been adopted by many. G. R. Driver suggests “parching heat” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 91-92).
[38:26] 37 tn Heb “on a land, no man.”
[38:26] 38 tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”
[38:27] 39 tn Heb “to cause to sprout a source of vegetation.” The word מֹצָא (motsa’) is rendered “mine” in Job 28:1. The suggestion with the least changes is Wright’s: צָמֵא (tsame’, “thirsty”). But others choose מִצִּיָּה (mitsiyyah, “from the steppe”).
[38:29] 40 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[38:30] 41 tn Several suggest that the verb is not from חָבָא (khava’, “to hide”) but from a homonym, “to congeal.” This may be too difficult to support, however.
[38:31] 42 tn This word is found here and in 1 Sam 15:32. Dhorme suggests, with others, that there has been a metathesis (a reversal of consonants), and it is the same word found in Job 31:36 (“bind”). G. R. Driver takes it as “cluster” without changing the text (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 7 [1956] :3).
[38:32] 43 tn The word מַזָּרוֹת (mazzarot) is taken by some to refer to the constellations (see 2 Kgs 23:5), and by others as connected to the word for “crown,” and so “corona.”
[38:34] 45 tc The LXX has “answer you,” and some editors have adopted this. However, the reading of the MT makes better sense in the verse.
[38:36] 46 tn This verse is difficult because of the two words, טֻחוֹת (tukhot, rendered here “heart”) and שֶׂכְוִי (sekhvi, here “mind”). They have been translated a number of ways: “meteor” and “celestial appearance”; the stars “Procyon” and “Sirius”; “inward part” and “mind”; even as birds, “ibis” and “cock.” One expects them to have something to do with nature – clouds and the like. The RSV accordingly took them to mean “meteor” (from a verb “to wander”) and “a celestial appearance.” But these meanings are not well-attested.
[38:37] 47 tn The word actually means “to cause to lie down.”
[38:38] 48 tn The word means “to flow” or “to cast” (as in casting metals). So the noun developed the sense of “hard,” as in cast metal.
[38:39] 49 tn Heb “fill up the life of.”
[38:41] 50 tn The verse is difficult, making some suspect that a line has dropped out. The little birds in the nest hardly go wandering about looking for food. Dhorme suggest “and stagger for lack of food.”
[104:3] 51 tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.
[104:3] 52 sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.
[104:4] 53 tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).
[104:6] 54 tc Heb “you covered it.” The masculine suffix is problematic if the grammatically feminine noun “earth” is the antecedent. For this reason some emend the form to a feminine verb with feminine suffix, כִּסַּתָּה (kisattah, “[the watery deep] covered it [i.e., the earth]”), a reading assumed by the present translation.
[104:6] 56 sn Verse 6 refers to the condition described in Gen 1:2 (note the use of the Hebrew term תְּהוֹם [tÿhom, “watery deep”] in both texts).
[104:8] 57 tn Heb “from your shout they fled, from the sound of your thunder they hurried off.”
[104:9] 58 tn Heb “a boundary you set up, they will not cross, they will not return to cover the earth.”
[104:10] 59 tn Heb “[the] one who sends springs into streams.” Another option is to translate, “he sends streams [i.e., streams that originate from springs] into the valleys” (cf. NIV).
[104:12] 60 tn Heb “among the thick foliage they give a sound.”
[104:13] 61 tn Heb “from his upper rooms.”
[104:13] 62 tn Heb “from the fruit of your works the earth is full.” The translation assumes that “fruit” is literal here. If “fruit” is understood more abstractly as “product; result,” then one could translate, “the earth flourishes as a result of your deeds” (cf. NIV, NRSV, REB).
[104:14] 63 tn Heb “causes the grass to sprout up.”
[104:14] 64 tn Heb “for the service of man” (see Gen 2:5).
[104:14] 65 tn Heb “to cause food to come out from the earth.”
[104:15] 66 tn Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”
[104:15] 67 tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).
[104:15] 68 tn Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”
[104:16] 69 sn The trees of the
[104:16] 70 tn Heb “are satisfied,” which means here that they receive abundant rain (see v. 13).
[104:17] 71 tn Heb “[the] heron [in the] evergreens [is] its home.”
[104:18] 72 tn Heb “the high mountains [are] for the goats.”
[104:19] 73 tn Heb “he made [the] moon for appointed times.” The phrase “appointed times” probably refers to the months of the Hebrew lunar calendar.
[104:19] 74 tn Heb more metaphorically, “knows its setting.”
[104:20] 75 tn Heb “you make darkness, so that it might be night.”
[104:21] 76 sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.
[104:22] 77 tn Heb “lie down.”
[104:23] 78 tn Heb “man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening.”
[104:24] 79 tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O
[104:24] 80 tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”
[104:25] 81 tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”
[104:25] 82 tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”
[104:26] 83 tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.
[104:27] 84 tn Heb “All of them.” The pronoun “them” refers not just to the sea creatures mentioned in vv. 25-26, but to all living things (see v. 24). This has been specified in the translation as “all of your creatures” for clarity.
[104:27] 85 tn Heb “to give their food in its time.”
[104:28] 86 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] good.”
[104:29] 87 tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”
[104:31] 88 tn Heb “be forever.”
[104:31] 89 tn Or “rejoice in his works.”
[104:33] 90 tn Heb “in my duration.”
[104:34] 91 tn That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.
[104:35] 92 tn Or “be destroyed.”
[40:12] 93 tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.
[40:12] 94 tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).
[40:12] 95 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[40:12] 96 tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”
[40:12] 97 sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.
[40:13] 98 tn Perhaps the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “advises” (note the following line).
[40:13] 99 tn In this context רוּחַ (ruakh) likely refers to the Lord’s “mind,” or mental faculties, rather than his personal Spirit (see BDB 925 s.v.).
[40:13] 100 tn Heb “or [as] the man of his counsel causes him to know?”
[40:14] 101 tn Heb “With whom did he consult, so that he gave discernment to him?”
[40:14] 102 tn Heb “and taught him.” The vav (ו) consecutive with prefixed verbal form continues the previous line. The translation employs an interrogative pronoun for stylistic reasons.
[40:14] 103 tn The phrase אֹרַח מִשְׁפָּט (’orakh mishpat) could be translated “path of justice” (so NASB, NRSV), but in this context, where creative ability and skill is in view, the phrase is better understood in the sense of “the way that is proper or fitting” (see BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 6); cf. NIV, NCV “the right way.”
[40:14] 104 tn Heb “or the way of understanding causes him to know?”
[40:15] 105 tn Or “weighs” (NIV); NLT “picks up.”
[40:15] 106 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV, NLT).
[40:16] 107 tn The words “for a sacrifice” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[40:16] 108 sn The point is that not even the Lebanon forest could supply enough wood and animals for an adequate sacrifice to the Lord.
[40:17] 109 tn Heb “[as derived] from nothing and unformed.”
[40:19] 110 tn Heb “pours out”; KJV “melteth.”
[40:20] 111 tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.
[40:20] 112 tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”
[40:22] 113 tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[40:22] 114 tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[40:22] 115 tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).
[40:22] 116 tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.
[40:22] 117 tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”
[40:25] 118 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[40:26] 119 tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”
[40:26] 120 tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.
[40:26] 121 tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)
[40:27] 122 tn Heb “my way is hidden from the Lord” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[40:27] 123 tn Heb “and from my God my justice passes away”; NRSV “my right is disregarded by my God.”
[40:28] 124 tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.
[40:28] 125 sn Exiled Israel’s complaint (v. 27) implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps he, like so many of the pagan gods, has died. Or perhaps his jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe he is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue his people, or is unable to execute it. But v. 28 affirms that he is not limited temporally or spatially nor is his power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver his people, if they respond in hopeful faith (v. 31a).
[40:30] 126 tn Heb “stumbling they stumble.” The verbal idea is emphasized by the infinitive absolute.
[40:31] 127 tn The words “for the Lord’s help” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[40:31] 128 tn Heb “they rise up [on] wings like eagles” (TEV similar).
[53:8] 129 tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The present translation assumes that מִן (min) here has an instrumental sense (“by, through”) and understands עֹצֶר וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט (’otser umimmishpat, “coercion and legal decision”) as a hendiadys meaning “coercive legal decision,” thus “an unjust trial.” Other interpretive options include: (1) “without [for this sense of מִן, see BDB 578 s.v. 1.b] hindrance and proper judicial process,” i.e., “unfairly and with no one to defend him,” (2) “from [in the sense of “after,” see BDB 581 s.v. 4.b] arrest and judgment.”
[53:8] 130 tn Heb “and his generation, who considers?” (NASB similar). Some understand “his generation” as a reference to descendants. In this case the question would suggest that he will have none. However, אֶת (’et) may be taken here as specifying a new subject (see BDB 85 s.v. I אֵת 3). If “his generation” refers to the servant’s contemporary generation, one may then translate, “As for his contemporary generation, who took note?” The point would be that few were concerned about the harsh treatment he received.
[53:8] 131 sn The “land of the living” is an idiom for the sphere where people live, in contrast to the underworld realm of the dead. See, for example, Ezek 32:23-27.
[53:8] 132 tn The Hebrew text reads “my people,” a reading followed by most English versions, but this is problematic in a context where the first person plural predominates, and where God does not appear to speak again until v. 11b. Therefore, it is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa עמו (“his people”). In this case, the group speaking in these verses is identified as the servant’s people (compare פְּשָׁעֵנוּ [pÿsha’enu, “our rebellious deeds”] in v. 5 with פֶּשַׁע עַמִּי [pesha’ ’ammi, “the rebellion of his people”] in v. 8).
