17:11 The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; 1
the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout.
Yet the harvest will disappear 2 in the day of disease
and incurable pain.
58:2 They seek me day after day;
they want to know my requirements, 3
like a nation that does what is right
and does not reject the law of their God.
They ask me for just decrees;
they want to be near God.
58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? 4
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, 5
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out 6 on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
58:13 You must 7 observe the Sabbath 8
rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. 9
You must look forward to the Sabbath 10
and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. 11
You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,
and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. 12
1 tn Heb “in the day of your planting you [?].” The precise meaning of the verb תְּשַׂגְשֵׂגִי (tÿsagsegi) is unclear. It is sometimes derived from שׂוּג/סוּג (sug, “to fence in”; see BDB 691 s.v. II סוּג). In this case one could translate “you build a protective fence.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one derives the form from שָׂגָא/שָׂגָה (saga’/sagah, “to grow”); see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:351, n. 4. For this verb, see BDB 960 s.v. שָׂגָא.
2 tc The Hebrew text has, “a heap of harvest.” However, better sense is achieved if נֵד (ned, “heap”) is emended to a verb. Options include נַד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד [nadad, “flee, depart”]), נָדַד (Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד), נֹדֵד (noded, Qal active participle from נָדַד), and נָד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular, or participle masculine singular, from נוּד [nud, “wander, flutter”]). See BDB 626 s.v. נוּד and HALOT 672 s.v. I נדד. One could translate literally: “[the harvest] departs,” or “[the harvest] flies away.”
3 tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”
4 tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”
5 tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Or “making [their] bed.”
7 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.
8 tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”
9 tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”
10 tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”
11 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).
12 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).