5:5 Now I will inform you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, 1
I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. 2
“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,
by my strategy that I devised.
I invaded the territory of nations, 3
and looted their storehouses.
Like a mighty conqueror, 4 I brought down rulers. 5
24:16 From the ends of the earth we 6 hear songs –
the Just One is majestic. 7
But I 8 say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed!
Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” 9
44:1 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!”
46:11 who summons an eagle 10 from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed, 11
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
46:13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;
I am bringing my salvation near, 12 it does not wait.
I will save Zion; 13
I will adorn Israel with my splendor.” 14
1 tn Heb “and it will become [a place for] grazing.” בָּעַר (ba’ar, “grazing”) is a homonym of the more often used verb “to burn.”
2 tn Heb “and it will become a trampled place” (NASB “trampled ground”).
3 tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”
4 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).
5 tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.
6 sn The identity of the subject is unclear. Apparently in vv. 15-16a an unidentified group responds to the praise they hear in the west by exhorting others to participate.
7 tn Heb “Beauty belongs to the just one.” These words may summarize the main theme of the songs mentioned in the preceding line.
8 sn The prophet seems to contradict what he hears the group saying. Their words are premature because more destruction is coming.
9 tn Heb “and [with] deception deceivers deceive.”
tn Verse 16b is a classic example of Hebrew wordplay. In the first line (“I’m wasting away…”) four consecutive words end with hireq yod ( ִי); in the second line all forms are derived from the root בָּגַד (bagad). The repetition of sound draws attention to the prophet’s lament.
10 tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
11 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
12 tn Heb “my salvation.” The verb “I am bringing near” is understood by ellipsis (note the previous line).
13 tn Heb “I will place in Zion salvation”; NASB “I will grant salvation in Zion.”
14 tn Heb “to Israel my splendor”; KJV, ASV “for Israel my glory.”