Isaiah 5:19-21

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 5:19 tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his “work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.
2. Isaiah 5:19 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
3. Isaiah 5:19 tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”
4. Isaiah 5:20 tn Heb “Woe [to] those who call.” See the note at v. 8.
5. Isaiah 5:20 sn In this verse the prophet denounces the perversion of moral standards. Darkness and bitterness are metaphors for evil; light and sweetness symbolize uprightness.
6. Isaiah 5:21 tn Heb “the wise in their own eyes.”
7. Isaiah 5:21 tn Heb “[who] before their faces are understanding ones.”sn Verses 18-21 contain three “woe-sayings” that are purely accusatory and have no formal announcement of judgment attached (as in the “woe-sayings” recorded in vv. 8-17). While this lack of symmetry is odd, it has a clear rhetorical purpose. Having established a pattern in vv. 8-17, the prophet deviates from it in vv. 18-21 to grab his audience’s attention. By placing the “woes” in rapid succession and heaping up the accusatory elements, he highlights the people’s guilt and introduces an element of tension and anticipation. One is reasonably certain that judgment will come, and when it does, it will be devastating. This anticipated devastation is described in frightening detail after the sixth and final woe (see vv. 22-30).