11:6 A wolf will reside 1 with a lamb,
and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;
an ox and a young lion will graze together, 2
as a small child leads them along.
11:7 A cow and a bear will graze together,
their young will lie down together. 3
A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.
11:8 A baby 4 will play
over the hole of a snake; 5
over the nest 6 of a serpent
an infant 7 will put his hand. 8
1 tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident alien in another society.
2 tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umÿri’, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimrÿ’u, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsaa). The present translation assumes this change.
3 tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze – together – they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhddav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.
4 tn Heb “one sucking,” i.e., still being nursed by his mother.
5 tn Or perhaps, “cobra” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “asp.”
6 tc The Hebrew text has the otherwise unattested מְאוּרַת (mÿ’urat, “place of light”), i.e., opening of a hole. Some prefer to emend to מְעָרַת (mÿ’arat, “cave, den”).
7 tn Heb “one who is weaned” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
8 sn The transformation of the animal kingdom depicted here typifies what will occur in human society under the just rule of the ideal king (see vv. 3-5). The categories “predator-prey” (i.e., oppressor-oppressed) will no longer exist.