14:32 How will they respond to the messengers of this nation? 1
Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure;
the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.
37:14 Hezekiah took the letter 6 from the messengers and read it. 7 Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.
57:9 You take olive oil as tribute 8 to your king, 9
along with many perfumes. 10
You send your messengers to a distant place;
you go all the way to Sheol. 11
1 sn The question forces the Philistines to consider the dilemma they will face – surrender and oppression, or battle and death.
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “Cush” (so NASB); NIV, NCV “the Cushite king of Egypt.”
4 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘He has come out to fight with you.’”
5 tn The Hebrew text has, “and he heard and he sent,” but the parallel in 2 Kgs 19:9 has וַיָּשָׁב וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayyashav vayyishlakh, “and he returned and he sent”), i.e., “he again sent.”
6 tc The Hebrew text has the plural, “letters.” The final mem (ם) may be dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular. If so, one still has to deal with the yod that is part of the plural ending. J. N. Oswalt refers to various commentators who have suggested ways to understand the plural form (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:652).
7 tn In the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:14 the verb has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”).
8 tn Heb “you journey with oil.”
9 tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.
10 tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”
11 sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.