1:16 1 Wash! Cleanse yourselves!
Remove your sinful deeds 2
from my sight.
Stop sinning!
5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, 3
people 4 of Judah,
you decide between me and my vineyard!
21:4 My heart palpitates, 6
I shake in fear; 7
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
22:20 “At that time 8 I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.
27:5 unless they became my subjects 9
and made peace with me;
let them make peace with me. 10
32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,
in secure homes,
and in safe, quiet places. 11
49:16 Look, I have inscribed your name 12 on my palms;
your walls are constantly before me.
52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed! 13
He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted 14 –
57:21 There will be no prosperity,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;
no one from the nations joined me.
I stomped on them 15 in my anger;
I trampled them down in my rage.
Their juice splashed on my garments,
and stained 16 all my clothes.
1 sn Having demonstrated the people’s guilt, the Lord calls them to repentance, which will involve concrete action in the socio-economic realm, not mere emotion.
2 sn This phrase refers to Israel’s covenant treachery (cf. Deut 28:10; Jer 4:4; 21:12; 23:2, 22; 25:5; 26:3; 44:22; Hos 9:15; Ps 28:4). In general, the noun ַמעַלְלֵיכֶם (ma’alleykhem) can simply be a reference to deeds, whether good or bad. However, Isaiah always uses it with a negative connotation (cf. 3:8, 10).
3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
4 tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.
5 tn The form in the text is a cohortative with prefixed vav (ו), suggesting that the Lord is announcing what he will do. Some prefer to change the verb to an imperative, “and summon as witnesses,” a reading that finds support from the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa. Another option is to point the prefixed conjunction as a vav consecutive and translate, “So I summoned as witnesses.” In this case Isaiah is recalling his response to the Lord’s commission. In any case, the reference to witnesses suggests that the name and the child who bears it will function as signs.
6 tn Heb “wanders,” perhaps here, “is confused.”
7 tn Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”
8 tn Or “in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
9 tn Heb “or let him take hold of my refuge.” The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is uncertain. Apparently the symbolic “thorns and briers” are in view, though in v. 4b a feminine singular pronoun was used to refer to them.
10 tc The Hebrew text has, “he makes peace with me, peace he makes with me.” Some contend that two alternative readings are preserved here and one should be deleted. The first has the object שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) preceding the verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “make”); the second reverses the order. Another option is to retain both statements, although repetitive, to emphasize the need to make peace with Yahweh.
11 tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”
12 tn Heb “you.” Here the pronoun is put by metonymy for the person’s name.
13 tn Heb “act wisely,” which by metonymy means “succeed.”
14 tn This piling up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of the servant’s coming exaltation.
15 sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.
16 tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).