Proverbs 15:23

15:23 A person has joy ¹  in giving an appropriate answer, ² 

and a word at the right time ³  – how good it is!

Isaiah 50:4

The Servant Perseveres

50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, ⁴ 

so that I know how to help the weary. ⁵ 

He wakes me up every morning;

he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. ⁶ 

Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ⁷ 

Is my hand too weak ⁸  to deliver ⁹  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ¹⁰  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 4:2

The Branch of the Lord

4:2 At that time ¹² 

the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; ¹³ 

the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight

to those who remain in Israel. ¹⁴ 

[15:23]  ¹ tn Heb “joy to the man” or “the man has joy.”

[15:23]  ² tn Heb “in the answer of his mouth” (so ASV); NASB “in an apt answer.” The term “mouth” is a metonymy of cause for what he says. But because the parallelism is loosely synonymous, the answer given here must be equal to the good word spoken in season. So it is an answer that is proper or fitting.

[15:23]  ³ tn Heb “in its season.” To say the right thing at the right time is useful; to say the right thing at the wrong time is counterproductive.

[50:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”

[50:4]  ⁵ tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.

[50:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”

[50:2]  ⁷ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁹ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[4:2]  ¹² tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the Lord will become beauty and honor.” Many English versions understand the phrase צֶמַח יְהוָה (tsemakh yÿhvah) as a messianic reference and render it, “the Branch of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and others). Though צֶמַח (tsemakh) is used by later prophets of a royal descendant (Jer 23;5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12), those passages contain clear contextual indicators that a human ruler is in view and that the word is being used in a metaphorical way of offspring. However, in Isa 4:2 there are no such contextual indicators. To the contrary, in the parallel structure of the verse צֶמַח יְהוָה corresponds to “produce of the land,” a phrase that refers elsewhere exclusively to literal agricultural produce (see Num 13:20, 26; Deut 1:25). In the majority of its uses צֶמַח refers to literal crops or vegetation (in Ps 65:10 the Lord is the source of this vegetation). A reference to the Lord restoring crops would make excellent sense in Isa 4 and the prophets frequently included this theme in their visions of the future age (see Isa 30:23-24; 32:20; Jer 31:12; Ezek 34:26-29; and Amos 9:13-14).

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the fruit of the land will become pride and beauty for the remnant of Israel.”