32:14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded 1 city is abandoned.
Hill 2 and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited. 3
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there. 4
56:10 All their watchmen 5 are blind,
they are unaware. 6
All of them are like mute dogs,
unable to bark.
They pant, 7 lie down,
and love to snooze.
61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice
and hate robbery and sin.
I will repay them because of my faithfulness; 8
I will make a permanent covenant with them.
66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem
and rejoice with her, all you who love her!
Share in her great joy,
all you who have mourned over her!
1 tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).
2 tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.
3 tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.
4 tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”
5 sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.
6 tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”
7 tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.
8 tn Heb “in faithfulness”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “faithfully.”