32:2 Each of them 1 will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from a rainstorm;
like streams of water in a dry region
and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.
40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; 2
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. 3
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, 4
and spreads it out 5 like a pitched tent. 6
59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,
we grope like those who cannot see; 7
we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.
Though others are strong, we are like dead men. 8
59:17 He wears his desire for justice 9 like body armor, 10
and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head. 11
He puts on the garments of vengeance 12
and wears zeal like a robe.
1 tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.
2 tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
3 tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).
5 tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.
6 tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”
7 tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”
8 tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”
9 tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “goodness.”
10 tn Or “a breastplate” (traditional; so many English versions); TEV “a coat of armour.”
11 tn Heb “and [as] a helmet deliverance on his head.”
12 tn Heb “and he puts on the clothes of vengeance [as] a garment.”