Psalms 84:7

84:7 They are sustained as they travel along; ¹ 

each one appears ²  before God in Zion.

Psalms 84:11

84:11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. ³ 

The Lord bestows favor ⁴  and honor;

he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. ⁵ 

Proverbs 4:18

4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, ⁶ 

growing brighter and brighter ⁷  until full day. ⁸ 

Proverbs 14:16

14:16 A wise person is cautious ⁹  and turns from evil,

but a fool throws off restraint ¹⁰  and is overconfident. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 35:8-10

35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –

it will be called the Way of Holiness. ¹² 

The unclean will not travel on it;

it is reserved for those authorized to use it ¹³  –

fools ¹⁴  will not stray into it.

35:9 No lions will be there,

no ferocious wild animals will be on it ¹⁵  –

they will not be found there.

Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,

35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ¹⁶ 

They will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ¹⁷ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ¹⁸  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 35:1

The Land and Its People Are Transformed

35:1 Let the desert and dry region be happy; ²⁰ 

let the wilderness ²¹  rejoice and bloom like a lily!

Isaiah 1:5

1:5 ²² Why do you insist on being battered?

Why do you continue to rebel? ²³ 

Your head has a massive wound, ²⁴ 

your whole body is weak. ²⁵ 

Isaiah 1:1

Heading

1:1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem ²⁶  that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah reigned over Judah. ²⁷ 

Isaiah 2:19

2:19 They ²⁸  will go into caves in the rocky cliffs

and into holes in the ground, ²⁹ 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ³⁰ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ³¹ 

[84:7]  ¹ tn Heb “they go from strength to strength.” The phrase “from strength to strength” occurs only here in the OT. With a verb of motion, the expression “from [common noun] to [same common noun]” normally suggests movement from one point to another or through successive points (see Num 36:7; 1 Chr 16:20; 17:5; Ps 105:13; Jer 25:32). Ps 84:7 may be emphasizing that the pilgrims move successively from one “place of strength” to another as they travel toward Jerusalem. All along the way they find adequate provisions and renewed energy for the trip.

[84:7]  ² tn The psalmist returns to the singular (see v. 5a), which he uses in either a representative or distributive (“each one” ) sense.

[84:11]  ³ tn Heb “[is] a sun and a shield.” The epithet “sun,” though rarely used of Israel’s God in the OT, was a well-attested royal title in the ancient Near East. For several examples from Ugaritic texts, the Amarna letters, and Assyrian royal inscriptions, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 131, n. 2.

[84:11]  ⁴ tn Or “grace.”

[84:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “he does not withhold good to those walking in integrity.”

[4:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “like light of brightness.” This construction is an attributive genitive: “bright light.” The word “light” (אוֹר, ’or) refers to the early morning light or the dawn (BDB 21 s.v.). The point of the simile is that the course of life that the righteous follow is like the clear, bright morning light. It is illumined, clear, easy to follow, and healthy and safe – the opposite of what darkness represents.

[4:18]  ⁷ tn The construction uses the Qal active participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) in a metaphorical sense to add the idea of continuance or continually to the participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh). Here the path was growing light, but the added participle signifies continually.

[4:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “until the day is established.” This expression refers to the coming of the full day or the time of high noon.

[14:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “fears.” Since the holy name (Yahweh, translated “the Lord”) is not used, it probably does not here mean fear of the Lord, but of the consequences of actions.

[14:16]  ¹⁰ tn The Hitpael of עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”) means “to pass over the bounds of propriety; to act insolently” (BDB 720 s.v.; cf. ASV “beareth himself insolently”).

[14:16]  ¹¹ tn The verb בָּטַח here denotes self-assurance or overconfidence. Fools are not cautious and do not fear the consequences of their actions.

[35:8]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.

[35:8]  ¹³ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.

[35:8]  ¹⁴ tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.

[35:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will go up on it”; TEV “will pass that way.”

[35:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”

[35:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[35:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”

[35:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

[35:1]  ²⁰ tn The final mem (ם) on the verb יְשֻׂשׂוּם (yÿsusum) is dittographic (note the initial mem on the following noun מִדְבָּר [midbar]). The ambiguous verbal form is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel). The jussive is used rhetorically here, not as a literal command or prayer.

[35:1]  ²¹ tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); NAB, NIV, TEV “desert.”

[1:5]  ²² sn In vv. 5-9 Isaiah addresses the battered nation (5-8) and speaks as their representative (9).

[1:5]  ²³ tn Heb “Why are you still beaten? [Why] do you continue rebellion?” The rhetorical questions express the prophet’s disbelief over Israel’s apparent masochism and obsession with sin. The interrogative construction in the first line does double duty in the parallelism. H. Wildberger (Isaiah, 1:18) offers another alternative by translating the two statements with one question: “Why do you still wish to be struck that you persist in revolt?”

[1:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “all the head is ill”; NRSV “the whole head is sick”; CEV “Your head is badly bruised.”

[1:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and all the heart is faint.” The “heart” here stands for bodily strength and energy, as suggested by the context and usage elsewhere (see Jer 8:18; Lam 1:22).

[1:1]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

[2:19]  ²⁸ tn The identity of the grammatical subject is unclear. The “idols” could be the subject; they will “go” into the caves and holes when the idolaters throw them there in their haste to escape God’s judgment (see vv. 20-21). The picture of the idols, which represent the foreign deities worshiped by the people, fleeing from the Lord would be highly polemical and fit the overall mood of the chapter. However it seems more likely that the idolaters themselves are the subject, for v. 10 uses similar language in sarcastically urging them to run from judgment.

[2:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “dust”; ASV “into the holes of the earth.”

[2:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:19]  ³¹ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men.