28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; 1
your agreement 2 with Sheol will not last. 3
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, 4
you will be overrun by it. 5
38:10 “I thought, 6
‘In the middle of my life 7 I must walk through the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived 8 of the rest of my years.’
38:18 Indeed 9 Sheol does not give you thanks;
death does not 10 praise you.
Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.
57:9 You take olive oil as tribute 11 to your king, 12
along with many perfumes. 13
You send your messengers to a distant place;
you go all the way to Sheol. 14
1 tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.
2 tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.
3 tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).
4 tn See the note at v. 15.
5 tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”
6 tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
7 tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).
8 tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”
9 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
10 tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.
11 tn Heb “you journey with oil.”
12 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.
13 tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”
14 sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.