11:15 The Lord will divide 1 the gulf 2 of the Egyptian Sea; 3
he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River 4 and send a strong wind, 5
he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, 6
and enable them to walk across in their sandals.
28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like
meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there. 7
As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, 8
and be injured, ensnared, and captured. 9
45:14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit 10 of Egypt and the revenue 11 of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you 12 and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. 13
They will bow down to you
and pray to you: 14
‘Truly God is with 15 you; he has no peer; 16
there is no other God!’”
50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire
and who equip yourselves with 17 flaming arrows, 18
walk 19 in the light 20 of the fire you started
and among the flaming arrows you ignited! 21
This is what you will receive from me: 22
you will lie down in a place of pain. 23
1 tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”
2 tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
3 sn That is, the Red Sea.
4 tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.
5 tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.
6 tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.
7 tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.
8 tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.
9 sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.
10 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
11 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
12 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
13 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
14 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
15 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
16 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.
17 tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).
18 tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.
19 tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.
20 tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).
21 sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.
22 tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
23 sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.