1:3 An ox recognizes its owner,
a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food; 1
but Israel does not recognize me, 2
my people do not understand.”
27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root; 5
Israel will blossom and grow branches.
The produce 6 will fill the surface of the world. 7
29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;
the poor among humankind will take delight 8 in the Holy One of Israel. 9
37:21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, 10
37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly? 11
At the Holy One of Israel! 12
48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; 13
they trust in 14 the God of Israel,
whose name is the Lord who commands armies.
48:12 Listen to me, O Jacob,
Israel, whom I summoned!
I am the one;
I am present at the very beginning
and at the very end. 15
52:12 Yet do not depart quickly
or leave in a panic. 16
For the Lord goes before you;
the God of Israel is your rear guard.
1 tn Heb “and the donkey the feeding trough of its owner.” The verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.
2 tn Although both verbs have no object, the parallelism suggests that Israel fails to recognize the Lord as the one who provides for their needs. In both clauses, the placement of “Israel” and “my people” at the head of the clause focuses the reader’s attention on the rebellious nation (C. van der Merwe, J. Naudé, J. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar, 346-47).
3 tn Heb “will be a blessing” (so NCV).
4 tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB).
5 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “the coming ones, let Jacob take root.” הַבָּאִים (habba’im, “the coming ones”) should probably be emended to יָמִים בָאִים (yamim va’im, “days [are] coming”) or בְּיָמִים הַבָּאִים (biyamim habba’im, “in the coming days”).
6 tn Heb “fruit” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
7 sn This apparently refers to a future population explosion. See 26:18.
8 tn Or “will rejoice” (NIV, NCV, NLT).
9 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
10 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:20 reads, “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense: “because.”
11 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”
12 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
13 tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qara’) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.
14 tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”
15 tn Heb “I [am] he, I [am the] first, also I [am the] last.”
16 tn Heb “or go in flight”; NAB “leave in headlong flight.”