Discovery BoxJoshua 1:5-9
Context1:5 No one will be able to resist you 1 all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone. 1:6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them. 2 1:7 Make sure you are 3 very strong and brave! Carefully obey 4 all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! 5 Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful 6 in all you do. 7 1:8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! 8 You must memorize it 9 day and night so you can carefully obey 10 all that is written in it. Then you will prosper 11 and be successful. 12 1:9 I repeat, 13 be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, 14 for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” 15
Isaiah 41:10-16
Context41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! 16
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! 17
41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries 18 will be reduced to nothing 19 and perish.
41:12 When you will look for your opponents, 20 you will not find them;
your enemies 21 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
41:13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, 22
men of 23 Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector, 24 the Holy One of Israel. 25
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 26 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 27
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 28
41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 43:1-2
Context43:1 Now, this is what the Lord says,
the one who created you, O Jacob,
and formed you, O Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect 29 you.
I call you by name, you are mine.
43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;
when you pass 30 through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not harm 31 you.
[1:5] 1 tn Heb “A man will not stand before you.” The second person pronouns in this verse are singular, indicating Joshua is the addressee.
[1:6] 2 tn Heb “For you will cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.” The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse refers to either the people or to the fathers.
[1:7] 4 tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”
[1:7] 5 tn Heb “commanded you.”
[1:7] 6 tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
[1:7] 7 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
[1:8] 9 tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).
[1:8] 10 tn Heb “be careful to do.”
[1:8] 11 tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”
[1:8] 12 tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
[1:9] 13 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
[1:9] 14 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
[1:9] 15 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
[41:10] 16 tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).
[41:10] 17 tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).
[41:11] 18 tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”
[41:11] 19 tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”
[41:12] 20 tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”
[41:12] 21 tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”
[41:14] 22 tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.
[41:14] 23 tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”
[41:14] 24 tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.
[41:14] 25 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[41:15] 26 tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”
[41:15] 27 tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.
[41:15] 28 sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.
[43:1] 29 tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”
[43:2] 30 tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[43:2] 31 tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”
