5:12 They have stringed instruments, 1 tambourines, flutes,
and wine at their parties.
So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,
they do not perceive what he is bringing about. 2
26:10 If the wicked are shown mercy,
they do not learn about justice. 3
Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; 4
they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.
26:14 The dead do not come back to life,
the spirits of the dead do not rise. 5
That is because 6 you came in judgment 7 and destroyed them,
you wiped out all memory of them.
40:21 Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
40:27 Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me, 8
My God is not concerned with my vindication”? 9
43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! 10 Do you not recognize 11 it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths 12 in the wilderness.
56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, 13
the people who commit themselves to obedience, 14
who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,
who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. 15
63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray 16 from your ways, 17
and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? 18
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance!
66:9 “Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”
asks the Lord.
“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”
asks your God. 19
1 tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).
2 tn Heb “the work of the Lord they do not look at, and the work of his hands they do not see.” God’s “work” can sometimes be his creative deeds, but in this context it is the judgment that he is planning to bring upon his people (cf. vv. 19, 26; 10:12; 28:21).
3 tn As in verse 9b, the translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “they do not learn to live in a righteous manner.”
4 tn Heb “in a land of uprightness they act unjustly”; NRSV “they deal perversely.”
5 sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.
6 tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.
7 tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”
8 tn Heb “my way is hidden from the Lord” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
9 tn Heb “and from my God my justice passes away”; NRSV “my right is disregarded by my God.”
10 tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”
11 tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”
12 tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has נתיבות (“paths”).
13 tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”
14 tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”
15 tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
16 tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.
17 tn This probably refers to God’s commands.
18 tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
sn How direct this hardening is, one cannot be sure. The speaker may envision direct involvement on the Lord’s part. The Lord has brought the exile as judgment for the nation’s sin and now he continues to keep them at arm’s length by blinding them spiritually. The second half of 64:7 might support this, though the precise reading of the final verb is uncertain. On the other hand, the idiom of lament is sometimes ironic and hyperbolically deterministic. For example, Naomi lamented that Shaddai was directly opposing her and bringing her calamity (Ruth 1:20-21), while the author of Ps 88 directly attributes his horrible suffering and loneliness to God (see especially vv. 6-8, 16-18). Both individuals make little, if any, room for intermediate causes or the principle of sin and death which ravages the human race. In the same way, the speaker in Isa 63:17 (who evidences great spiritual sensitivity and is anything but “hardened”) may be referring to the hardships of exile, which discouraged and even embittered the people, causing many of them to retreat from their Yahwistic faith. In this case, the “hardening” in view is more indirect and can be lifted by the Lord’s intervention. Whether the hardening here is indirect or direct, it is important to recognize that the speaker sees it as one of the effects of rebellion against the Lord (note especially 64:5-6).
19 sn The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “Of course not!”