76:5 The bravehearted 1 were plundered; 2
they “fell asleep.” 3
All the warriors were helpless. 4
78:64 Their 5 priests fell by the sword,
but their 6 widows did not weep. 7
1 tn Heb “strong of heart.” In Isa 46:12, the only other text where this phrase appears, it refers to those who are stubborn, but here it seems to describe brave warriors (see the next line).
2 tn The verb is a rare Aramaized form of the Hitpolel (see GKC 149 §54.a, n. 2); the root is שָׁלַל (shalal, “to plunder”).
3 tn Heb “they slept [in] their sleep.” “Sleep” here refers to the “sleep” of death. A number of modern translations take the phrase to refer to something less than death, however: NASB “cast into a deep sleep”; NEB “fall senseless”; NIV “lie still”; NRSV “lay stunned.”
4 tn Heb “and all the men of strength did not find their hands.”
5 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
6 tn Heb “his.” The singular pronominal suffix is collective, referring back to God’s “people” (v. 62).
7 sn Because of the invading army and the ensuing panic, the priests’ widows had no time to carry out the normal mourning rites.