Isaiah 23-25

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 23:1 tn See note at Isa 13:1.
2. Isaiah 23:1 tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant, western port of Tarshish.
3. Isaiah 23:1 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (boʾ) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b.
4. Isaiah 23:1 tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים.
5. Isaiah 23:2 tn Or “keep quiet”; NAB “Silence!”
6. Isaiah 23:3 tc The Hebrew text (23:2b-3a) reads literally, “merchant of Sidon, the one who crosses the sea, they filled you, and on the deep waters.” Instead of מִלְאוּךְ (milʾukh, “they filled you”) the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads מלאכיך (“your messengers”). The translation assumes an emendation of מִלְאוּךְ to מַלְאָכָו (malʾakhav, “his messengers”), taking the vav (ו) on וּבְמַיִם (uv^emayim) as improperly placed; instead it should be the final letter of the preceding word.
7. Isaiah 23:3 tn Heb “seed of Shihor.” “Shihor” probably refers to the east branch of the Nile. See Jer 2:18 and BDB 1009 s.v. שִׁיחוֹר.
8. Isaiah 23:3 tn Heb “the harvest of the Nile.”
9. Isaiah 23:3 tn Heb “[is] her revenue.”
10. Isaiah 23:3 tn Heb “merchandise”; KJV, ASV “a mart of nations”; NLT “the merchandise mart of the world.”
11. Isaiah 23:4 tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (maʿoz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.
12. Isaiah 23:4 tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).sn The sea is personified here as a lamenting childless woman. The foreboding language anticipates the following announcement of Tyre’s demise, viewed here as a child of the sea, as it were.
13. Isaiah 23:5 tn Heb “they will be in pain at the report of Tyre.”
14. Isaiah 23:7 tn Heb “Is this to you, boisterous one?” The pronoun “you” is masculine plural, like the imperatives in v. 6, so it is likely addressed to the Egyptians and residents of the coast. “Boisterous one” is a feminine singular form, probably referring to the personified city of Tyre.
15. Isaiah 23:7 tn Heb “in the days of antiquity [is] her beginning.”
16. Isaiah 23:8 tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hammaʿatirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (ʿatar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (ʿatarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.
17. Isaiah 23:8 tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”
18. Isaiah 23:9 tn Heb “the pride of all the beauty.”
19. Isaiah 23:10 tc This meaning of this verse is unclear. The Hebrew text reads literally, “Cross over your land, like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish, there is no more waistband.” The translation assumes an emendation of מֵזַח (mezakh, “waistband”) to מָחֹז (makhoz, “harbor, marketplace”; see Ps 107:30). The term עָבַר (ʿavar, “cross over”) is probably used here of traveling over the water (as in v. 6). The command is addressed to personified Tarshish, who here represents her merchants. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has עבדי (“work, cultivate”) instead of עִבְרִי (ʿivri, “cross over”). In this case one might translate “Cultivate your land, like they do the Nile region” (cf. NIV, CEV). The point would be that the people of Tarshish should turn to agriculture because they will no longer be able to get what they need through the marketplace in Tyre.
20. Isaiah 23:11 tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.”
21. Isaiah 23:11 tn Heb “the Lord.” For stylistic reasons the pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation here.
22. Isaiah 23:11 tn Heb “concerning Canaan, to destroy her fortresses.” NIV, NLT translate “Canaan” as “Phoenicia” here.
23. Isaiah 23:12 tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.
24. Isaiah 23:12 tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1.
25. Isaiah 23:13 tn Heb “this people [that] is not.”
26. Isaiah 23:13 tn For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 118 s.v. *בַּחוּן.
27. Isaiah 23:13 tn Or “laid bare.” For the meaning of this word, see HALOT 889 s.v. ערר.
28. Isaiah 23:13 sn This verse probably refers to the Assyrian destruction of Babylon.
29. Isaiah 23:14 tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” See the note at v. 1.
30. Isaiah 23:15 tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
31. Isaiah 23:15 sn The number seventy is probably used in a stereotypical, nonliteral sense here to indicate a long period of time that satisfies completely the demands of God’s judgment.
32. Isaiah 23:15 tn Heb “like the days of a king.”
33. Isaiah 23:15 tn Heb “At the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre like the song of the prostitute.”
34. Isaiah 23:16 tn Heb “so you will be remembered.”
35. Isaiah 23:17 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
36. Isaiah 23:17 tn Heb “visit [with favor]” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “will deal with.”
37. Isaiah 23:17 tn Heb “and she will return to her [prostitute’s] wages and engage in prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.”
38. Isaiah 23:18 tn Heb “for eating to fullness and for beautiful covering[s].”sn The point of this verse, which in its blatant nationalism comes precariously close to comparing the Lord to one who controls or manages a prostitute, is that Tyre will become a subject of Israel and her God. Tyre’s commercial profits will be used to enrich the Lord’s people.
39. Isaiah 24:2 tn Heb “and it will be like the people, like the priest.”
40. Isaiah 24:2 tn Heb “like the servant, like his master.”
41. Isaiah 24:2 tn Heb “like the female servant, like her mistress.”
42. Isaiah 24:2 tn Heb “like the buyer, like the seller.”
43. Isaiah 24:2 tn Heb “like the lender, like the borrower.”
44. Isaiah 24:2 tn Heb “like the creditor, just as the one to whom he lends.”
45. Isaiah 24:3 tn Heb “for the Lord has spoken this word.”
46. Isaiah 24:4 tn Some prefer to read “land” here, but the word pair אֶרֶץ/תֵּבֵל (ʾerets/tevel [see the corresponding term in the parallel line]) elsewhere clearly designates the earth/world (see 1 Sam 2:8; 1 Chr 16:30; Job 37; 12; Pss 19:4; 24:1; 33:8; 89:11; 90:2; 96:13; 98:9; Prov 8:26, 31; Isa 14:16-17; 34:1; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Lam 4:12). According to L. Stadelmann, תבל designates “the habitable part of the world” (The Hebrew Conception of the World [AnBib], 130).
47. Isaiah 24:4 tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists the homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism.
48. Isaiah 24:4 tn Heb “the height of the people of the earth.” The translation assumes an emendation of the singular form מְרוֹם (m^erom, “height of”) to the plural construct מְרֹמֵי (m^erome, “high ones of”; note the plural verb at the beginning of the line), and understands the latter as referring to the prominent people of human society.
49. Isaiah 24:5 tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”
50. Isaiah 24:5 sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.
51. Isaiah 24:5 tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”
52. Isaiah 24:5 tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”sn For a lengthy discussion of the identity of this covenant/treaty, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24, ” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In this context, where judgment comes upon both the pagan nations and God’s covenant community, the phrase “permanent treaty” is intentionally ambiguous. For the nations this treaty is the Noahic mandate of Gen 9:1-7 with its specific stipulations and central regulation (Gen 9:7). By shedding blood, the warlike nations violated this treaty, which promotes population growth and prohibits murder. For Israel, which was also guilty of bloodshed (see Isa 1:15, 21; 4:4), this “permanent treaty” would refer more specifically to the Mosaic Law and its regulations prohibiting murder (Exod 20:13; Num 35:6-34), which are an extension of the Noahic mandate.
53. Isaiah 24:6 sn Ancient Near Eastern treaties often had “curses,” or threatened judgments, attached to them. (See Deut 28 for a biblical example of such curses.) The party or parties taking an oath of allegiance acknowledged that disobedience would activate these curses, which typically threatened loss of agricultural fertility as depicted in the following verses.
54. Isaiah 24:6 tn The verb אָשַׁם (ʾasham, “be guilty”) is here used metonymically to mean “pay, suffer for one’s guilt” (see HALOT 95 s.v. אשׁם).
55. Isaiah 24:6 tn BDB 359 s.v. חָרַר derives the verb חָרוּ (kharu) from חָרַר (kharar, “burn”), but HALOT 351 s.v. II חרה understands a hapax legomenon חָרָה (kharah, “to diminish in number,” a homonym of חָרָה) here, relating it to an alleged Arabic cognate meaning “to decrease.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חורו, perhaps understanding the root as חָוַר (khavar, “grow pale”; see Isa 29:22 and HALOT 299 s.v. I חור).
56. Isaiah 24:6 tn Heb “and mankind is left small [in number].”
57. Isaiah 24:7 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “all the joyful in heart,” but the context specifies the context as parties and drinking bouts.
58. Isaiah 24:8 tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).
59. Isaiah 24:9 tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”
60. Isaiah 24:10 tn Heb “the city of chaos” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Isaiah uses the term תֹּהוּ (tohu) rather frequently of things (like idols) that are empty and worthless (see BDB 1062 s.v.), so the word might characterize the city as rebellious or morally worthless. However, in this context, which focuses on the effects of divine judgment, it probably refers to the ruined or worthless condition in which the city is left (note the use of the word in Isa 34:11). For a discussion of the identity of this city, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24, ” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In the context of universal judgment depicted in Isa 24, this city represents all the nations and cities of the world which, like Babylon of old and the powers/cities mentioned in chapters 13-23, rebel against God’s authority. Behind the stereotypical language one can detect various specific manifestations of this symbolic and paradigmatic city, including Babylon, Moab, and Jerusalem, all of which are alluded or referred to in chapters 24-27.
61. Isaiah 24:10 tn Heb “every house is closed up from entering.”
62. Isaiah 24:11 tn Heb “[there is] an outcry over the wine in the streets.”
63. Isaiah 24:11 tn Heb “all joy turns to evening,” the darkness of evening symbolizing distress and sorrow.
64. Isaiah 24:11 tn Heb “the joy of the earth disappears.”
65. Isaiah 24:12 tn Heb “and there is left in the city desolation.”
66. Isaiah 24:12 tn Heb “and [into] rubble the gate is crushed.”
67. Isaiah 24:13 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
68. Isaiah 24:13 sn The judgment will severely reduce the earth’s population. See v. 6.
69. Isaiah 24:14 sn The remnant of the nations (see v. 13) may be the unspecified subject. If so, then those who have survived the judgment begin to praise God.
70. Isaiah 24:14 tn Heb “they yell out concerning.”
71. Isaiah 24:15 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “in the lights,” interpreted by some to mean “in the region of light,” referring to the east. Some scholars have suggested the emendation of בָּאֻרִים (baʾurim) to בְּאִיֵּי הַיָּם (b^eʾiyye hayyam, “along the seacoasts”), a phrase that is repeated in the next line. In this case, the two lines form synonymous parallelism. If one retains the MT reading (as above), “in the east” and “along the seacoasts” depict the two ends of the earth to refer to all the earth (as a merism).
72. Isaiah 24:15 tn The word “extol” is supplied in the translation; the verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.
73. Isaiah 24:15 tn Heb “name,” which here stands for God’s reputation achieved by his mighty deeds.
74. Isaiah 24:16 sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.
75. Isaiah 24:16 tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.
76. Isaiah 24:16 sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.
77. Isaiah 24:16 tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”tn Verse 16b is a classic example of Hebrew wordplay. In the first line (“I’m wasting away….”) four consecutive words end with hireq yod ( ִי); in the second line all forms are derived from the root בָּגַד (bagad). The repetition of sound draws attention to the prophet’s lament.
78. Isaiah 24:17 tn Heb “[are] upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.” The first line of v. 17 provides another classic example of Hebrew wordplay. The names of the three instruments of judgment (פָח,פַחַת ,פַּחַד [pakhad, fakhat, fakh]) all begin with the letters פ and ח (pe and khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ד and ת, dalet and tav). Once again the repetition of sound draws attention to the statement and contributes to the theme of the inescapability of judgment. As their similar-sounding names suggest, terror, pit, and snare are allies in destroying the objects of divine wrath.
79. Isaiah 24:18 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
80. Isaiah 24:18 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
81. Isaiah 24:18 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
82. Isaiah 24:19 tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each line ends with אֶרֶץ (ʾerets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.
83. Isaiah 24:20 tn Heb “staggering, staggers.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb for emphasis and sound play.
84. Isaiah 24:20 tn The words “in a windstorm” are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
85. Isaiah 24:21 tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
86. Isaiah 24:21 tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”
87. Isaiah 24:21 tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets; see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13).
88. Isaiah 24:22 tn Heb “they will be gathered [in] a gathering [as] a prisoner in a cistern.” It is tempting to eliminate אֲסֵפָה (ʾasefah, “a gathering”) as dittographic or as a gloss, but sound repetition is one of the main characteristics of the style of this section of the chapter.
89. Isaiah 24:22 tn Heb “and after a multitude of days.”
90. Isaiah 24:22 tn Heb “visited” (so KJV, ASV). This verse can mean to visit for good or for evil. The translation assumes the latter, based on v. 21a. However, BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד B.Niph.2 suggests the meaning “visit graciously” here, in which case one might translate “they will be released.”
91. Isaiah 24:23 tn Heb “will be ashamed.”
92. Isaiah 24:23 tn Or “glow of the sun.”
93. Isaiah 24:23 tn Heb “will be ashamed” (so NCV).
94. Isaiah 24:23 tn Or “take his throne,” “become king.”
95. Isaiah 24:23 tn Heb “and before his elders [in] splendor.”
96. Isaiah 25:1 sn The prophet speaks here as one who has observed the coming judgment of the proud.
97. Isaiah 25:1 tn Heb “name.” See the note at 24:15.
98. Isaiah 25:1 tn Heb “plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness.” The feminine noun אֱמוּנָה (ʾemunah, “faithfulness”) and masculine noun אֹמֶן (ʾomen, “trustworthiness”), both of which are derived from the root אָמַן (ʾaman), are juxtaposed to emphasize the basic idea conveyed by the synonyms. Here they describe the absolute reliability of the divine plans.
99. Isaiah 25:2 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
100. Isaiah 25:2 tn The Hebrew text has “you have made from the city.” The prefixed mem (מ) on עִיר (ʿir, “city”) was probably originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:456, n. 3.
101. Isaiah 25:2 tc Some with support from the LXX emend זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) to זֵדִים (zedim, “the insolent”).
102. Isaiah 25:3 tn The Hebrew text has a singular form, but it should be emended to a plural or eliminated altogether. The noun may have been accidentally copied from the preceding verse.
103. Isaiah 25:4 tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”
104. Isaiah 25:4 tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion.
105. Isaiah 25:5 tn Or “drought” (TEV).
106. Isaiah 25:5 tn Heb “the tumult of foreigners.”
107. Isaiah 25:5 tn Heb “[like] heat in the shadow of a cloud.”
108. Isaiah 25:5 tn The translation assumes that the verb יַעֲנֶה (yaʿaneh) is a Hiphil imperfect from עָנָה (ʿanah, “be afflicted, humiliated”). In this context with “song” as object it means to “quiet” (see HALOT 853-54 s.v. II ענה). Some prefer to emend the form to the second person singular, so that it will agree with the second person verb earlier in the verse. BDB 776 s.v. III עָנָה Qal.1 understands the form as Qal, with “song” as subject, in which case one might translate “the song of tyrants will be silent.” An emendation of the form to a Niphal (יֵעָנֶה, yeʿaneh) would yield the same translation.
109. Isaiah 25:6 sn That is, Mount Zion (see 24:23); cf. TEV; NLT “In Jerusalem.”
110. Isaiah 25:6 tn Heb “And the Lord of Heaven’s Armies [traditionally, “the Lord of hosts”] will make for all the nations on this mountain a banquet of meats, a banquet of wine dregs, meats filled with marrow, dregs that are filtered.”
111. Isaiah 25:7 tn The Hebrew text reads, “the face of the shroud, the shroud over all the nations.” Some emend the second הַלּוֹט (hallot) to a passive participle הַלּוּט (hallut, “that is wrapped”).
112. Isaiah 25:7 sn The point of the imagery is unclear. Perhaps the shroud/covering referred to was associated with death in some way (see v. 8).
113. Isaiah 25:8 sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.
114. Isaiah 25:8 tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
115. Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “and one will say in that day.”
116. Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “this [one].”
117. Isaiah 25:9 tn Heb “this [one].”
118. Isaiah 25:10 tn Heb “for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain”; TEV “will protect Mount Zion”; NCV “will protect (rest on NLT) Jerusalem.”
119. Isaiah 25:10 tn Heb “under him,” i.e., “in his place.”
120. Isaiah 25:10 tc The marginal reading (Qere) is בְּמוֹ (b^emo, “in”). The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּמִי (b^emi, “in the water of”).
121. Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
122. Isaiah 25:11 tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is probably the masculine noun מַתְבֵּן (matben, “heap of straw”) in v. 10 rather than the feminine noun מַדְמֵנָה (madmenah, “manure pile”), also in v. 10.
123. Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
124. Isaiah 25:11 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
125. Isaiah 25:11 tn The Hebrew text has, “he will bring down his pride along with the [?] of his hands.” The meaning of אָרְבּוֹת (ʾarbot), which occurs only here in the OT, is unknown. Some (see BDB 70 s.v. אָרְבָּה) translate “artifice, cleverness,” relating the form to the verbal root אָרָב (ʾarav, “to lie in wait, ambush”), but this requires some convoluted semantic reasoning. HALOT 83 s.v. *אָרְבָּה suggests the meaning “[nimble] movements.” The translation above, which attempts to relate the form to the preceding context, is purely speculative.
126. Isaiah 25:12 sn Moab is addressed.
127. Isaiah 25:12 tn Heb “a fortification, the high point of your walls.”
128. Isaiah 25:12 tn Heb “he will bring [it] down, he will make [it] touch the ground, even to the dust.”