9:19 Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, 1
and the people became fuel for the fire. 2
People had no compassion on one another. 3
13:8 They panic –
cramps and pain seize hold of them
like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.
They look at one another in astonishment;
their faces are flushed red. 4
40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks, 5 “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds: 6 “All people are like grass, 7
and all their promises 8 are like the flowers in the field.
44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use 9 the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’” 10
1 tn The precise meaning of the verb עְתַּם (’ÿtam), which occurs only here, is uncertain, though the context strongly suggests that it means “burn, scorch.”
2 sn The uncontrollable fire of the people’s wickedness (v. 18) is intensified by the fire of the Lord’s judgment (v. 19). God allows (or causes) their wickedness to become self-destructive as civil strife and civil war break out in the land.
3 tn Heb “men were not showing compassion to their brothers.” The idiom “men to their brothers” is idiomatic for reciprocity. The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav (ו) consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.
4 tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.
5 tn Heb “and he says.” Apparently a second “voice” responds to the command of the first “voice.”
6 tn The words “the first voice responds” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first voice tells the second one what to declare.
7 tn Heb “all flesh is grass.” The point of the metaphor is explained in v. 7.
8 tn Heb “and all his loyalty.” The antecedent of the third masculine suffix is בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”), which refers collectively to mankind. The LXX, apparently understanding the antecedent as “grass,” reads “glory,” but חֶסֶד (khesed) rarely, if ever, has this nuance. The normal meaning of חֶסֶד (“faithfulness, loyalty, devotion”) fits very well in the argument. Human beings and their faithfulness (verbal expressions of faithfulness are specifically in view; cf. NRSV “constancy”) are short-lived and unreliable, in stark contrast to the decrees and promises of the eternal God.
9 tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”
10 tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”