1:30 For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither,
like an orchard 1 that is unwatered.
5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, 2
people 3 of Judah,
you decide between me and my vineyard!
14:9 Sheol 4 below is stirred up about you,
ready to meet you when you arrive.
It rouses 5 the spirits of the dead for you,
all the former leaders of the earth; 6
it makes all the former kings of the nations
rise from their thrones. 7
14:15 But you were brought down 8 to Sheol,
to the remote slopes of the pit. 9
24:17 Terror, pit, and snare
are ready to overtake you inhabitants of the earth! 10
26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you;
they uttered incantations because of your discipline. 11
29:4 You will fall;
while lying on the ground 12 you will speak;
from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. 13
Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; 14
from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. 15
40:25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One. 16
41:8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend, 17
42:23 Who among you will pay attention to this?
Who will listen attentively in the future? 18
45:15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,
O God of Israel, deliverer!
49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.” 19
49:8 This is what the Lord says:
“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;
in the day of deliverance I will help you;
I will protect you 20 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 21
to rebuild 22 the land 23
and to reassign the desolate property.
49:17 Your children hurry back,
while those who destroyed and devastated you depart.
58:13 You must 24 observe the Sabbath 25
rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. 26
You must look forward to the Sabbath 27
and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. 28
You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,
and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. 29
60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor 30 of the Lord shines on you!
60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,
instead of iron, I will bring you silver,
instead of wood, I will bring you 31 bronze,
instead of stones, I will bring you 32 iron.
I will make prosperity 33 your overseer,
and vindication your sovereign ruler. 34
1 tn Or “a garden” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
3 tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.
4 sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead.
5 tn Heb “arousing.” The form is probably a Polel infinitive absolute, rather than a third masculine singular perfect, for Sheol is grammatically feminine (note “stirred up”). See GKC 466 §145.t.
6 tn Heb “all the rams of the earth.” The animal epithet is used metaphorically here for leaders. See HALOT 903 s.v. *עַתּוּד.
7 tn Heb “lifting from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” הֵקִים (heqim, a Hiphil perfect third masculine singular) should be emended to an infinitive absolute (הָקֵים, haqem). See the note on “rouses” earlier in the verse.
8 tn The prefixed verb form is taken as a preterite. Note the use of perfects in v. 12 to describe the king’s downfall.
9 tn The Hebrew term בּוּר (bor, “cistern”) is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to the place of the dead or the entrance to the underworld.
10 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 פח (peh-khet) and the first two end in dental consonants (ת/ד, tet/dalet). 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.
11 tn The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and BDB 823 s.v.) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.
12 tn Heb “from the ground” (so NIV, NCV).
13 tn Heb “and from the dust your word will be low.”
14 tn Heb “and your voice will be like a ritual pit from the earth.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19. Here the word is used metonymically for the voice that emerges from such a pit.
15 tn Heb “and from the dust your word will chirp.” The words “as if muttering an incantation” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the parallelism and 8:19.
16 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
17 tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).
18 tn The interrogative particle is understood in the second line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
19 sn This verse identifies the servant as Israel. This seems to refer to the exiled nation (cf. 41:8-9; 44:1-2, 21; 45:4; 48:20), but in vv. 5-6 this servant says he has been commissioned to reconcile Israel to God, so he must be distinct from the exiled nation. This servant is an ideal “Israel” who, like Moses of old, mediates a covenant for the nation (see v. 8), leads them out of bondage (v. 9a), and carries out God’s original plan for Israel by positively impacting the pagan nations (see v. 6b). By living according to God’s law, Israel was to be a model of God’s standards of justice to the surrounding nations (Deut 4:6-8). The sinful nation failed, but the servant, the ideal “Israel,” will succeed by establishing justice throughout the earth.
20 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).
21 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.
22 tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”
23 tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.
24 tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.
25 tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”
26 tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”
27 tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”
28 tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).
29 tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).
30 tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).
31 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).
32 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).
33 tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).
34 tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.