30:6 This is a message 1 about the animals in the Negev:
Through a land of distress and danger,
inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, 2
by snakes and darting adders, 3
they transport 4 their wealth on the backs of donkeys,
their riches on the humps of camels,
to a nation that cannot help them. 5
46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not 6 move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
1 tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”
2 tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.
3 tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.
4 tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
5 sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.
6 tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.