17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, 1
when he shouts at 2 them, they will flee to a distant land,
driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,
or like dead thistles 3 before a strong gale.
28:7 Even these men 4 stagger because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer –
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused 5 because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, 6
they totter while making legal decisions. 7
42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;
all of them are trapped in pits 13
and held captive 14 in prisons.
They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;
they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” 15
66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; 16
the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; 17
the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; 18
the one who offers incense also praises an idol. 19
They have decided to behave this way; 20
they enjoy these disgusting practices. 21
1 tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”
2 tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.
3 tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”
4 tn Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.
5 tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.
6 tn Heb “in the seeing.”
7 tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”
8 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
9 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”
sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.
10 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
11 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
12 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
13 tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).
14 tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”
15 tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”
16 tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.
17 tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.
sn The significance of breaking a dog’s neck is uncertain, though the structure of the statement when compared to the preceding and following lines suggests the action is viewed in a negative light. According to Exod 13:13 and 34:20, one was to “redeem” a firstborn donkey by offering a lamb; if one did not “redeem” the firstborn donkey in this way, then its neck must be broken. According to Deut 21:1-9 a heifer’s neck was to be broken as part of the atonement ritual to purify the land from the guilt of bloodshed. It is not certain if these passages relate in any way to the action described in Isa 66:3.
18 tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.
19 tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.
20 tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”
21 tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”