Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:19 
Context1:19 If you have a willing attitude and obey, 1
then you will again eat the good crops of the land.
Isaiah 13:1
Context13:1 2 This is a message about Babylon that God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz: 3
Isaiah 13:7
Context13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, 4
every human heart loses its courage. 5
Isaiah 14:7
Context14:7 The whole earth rests and is quiet;
they break into song.
Isaiah 18:1
Context18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, 6
the one beyond the rivers of Cush,
Isaiah 28:3
Context28:3 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
Isaiah 28:26
Context28:26 His God instructs him;
he teaches him the principles of agriculture. 7
Isaiah 32:16
Context32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert
and fairness will live in the orchard. 8
Isaiah 43:18
Context43:18 “Don’t remember these earlier events; 9
don’t recall these former events.
Isaiah 43:21
Context43:21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me.” 10
Isaiah 50:3
Context50:3 I can clothe the sky in darkness;
I can cover it with sackcloth.”
Isaiah 51:6
Context51:6 Look up at the sky!
Look at the earth below!
For the sky will dissipate 11 like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give 12 is permanent;
the vindication I provide 13 will not disappear. 14
Isaiah 57:8
Context57:8 Behind the door and doorpost you put your symbols. 15
Indeed, 16 you depart from me 17 and go up
and invite them into bed with you. 18
You purchase favors from them, 19
you love their bed,
1 tn Heb “listen”; KJV “obedient”; NASB “If you consent and obey.”
2 sn Isa 13-23 contains a series of judgment oracles against various nations. It is likely that Israel, not the nations mentioned, actually heard these oracles. The oracles probably had a twofold purpose. For those leaders who insisted on getting embroiled in international politics, these oracles were a reminder that Judah need not fear foreign nations or seek international alliances for security reasons. For the righteous remnant within the nation, these oracles were a reminder that Israel’s God was indeed the sovereign ruler of the earth, worthy of his people’s trust.
3 tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] [about] Babylon which Isaiah son of Amoz saw.”
4 tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”
5 tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).
6 tn Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
sn The significance of the qualifying phrase “buzzing wings” is uncertain. Some suggest that the designation points to Cush as a land with many insects. Another possibility is that it refers to the swiftness with which this land’s messengers travel (v. 2a); they move over the sea as swiftly as an insect flies through the air. For a discussion of the options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:359-60.
7 tn Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”
8 sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.
9 tn Heb “the former things” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “forget all that.”
10 tn Heb “[so] they might declare my praise.”
11 tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.
12 tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”
13 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”
14 tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”
15 tn The precise referent of זִכָּרוֹן (zikkaron) in this context is uncertain. Elsewhere the word refers to a memorial or commemorative sign. Here it likely refers to some type of idolatrous symbol.
16 tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).
17 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “from me you uncover.” The translation assumes an emendation of the Piel form גִּלִּית (gillit, “you uncover”), which has no object expressed here, to the Qal גָּלִית (galit, “you depart”).
18 tn Heb “you make wide your bed” (NASB similar).
19 tc Heb “and you [second masculine singular, unless the form be taken as third feminine singular] cut for yourself [feminine singular] from them.” Most English translations retain the MT reading in spite of at least three problems. This section makes significant use of feminine verbs and noun suffixes because of the sexual imagery. The verb in question is likely a 2nd person masculine singular verb. Nevertheless, this kind of fluctuation in gender appears elsewhere (GKC 127-28 §47.k and 462 §144.p; cf. Jer 3:5; Ezek 22:4; 23:32; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:473, n. 13). Secondly, when this verbal root signifies establishing a covenant, it is normally accompanied by the noun for “covenant” (בְּרִית, bÿrit). Finally, this juxtaposition of the verb “to cut” and “covenant” normally is followed by the preposition “with,” while here it is “from.” The translation above assumes an emendation of וַתִּכְרָת (vatikhrah, “and you cut”) to וְכָרִית (vÿkharit, “and you purchase”) from the root כָּרָה (kharah); see HALOT 497 s.v. II כרה.
20 tn The Hebrew text has simply חָזָה (khazah, “gaze”). The adverb “longingly” is interpretive (see the context, where sexual lust is depicted).
21 tn Heb “[at] a hand you gaze.” The term יָד (yad, “hand”) probably has the sense of “power, manhood” here, where it is used, as in Ugaritic, as a euphemism for the genitals. See HALOT 387 s.v. I יָד.
