Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:21 
Context1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city
has become a prostitute! 1
She was once a center of 2 justice,
fairness resided in her,
but now only murderers. 3
Isaiah 14:32
Context14:32 How will they respond to the messengers of this nation? 4
Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure;
the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.
Isaiah 23:7
Context23:7 Is this really your boisterous city 5
whose origins are in the distant past, 6
and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?
Isaiah 23:9
Context23:9 The Lord who commands armies planned it –
to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty, 7
to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.
Isaiah 23:17
Context23:17 At the end of seventy years 8 the Lord will revive 9 Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms. 10
Isaiah 26:17
Context26:17 As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver
and strains and cries out because of her labor pains,
so were we because of you, O Lord.
Isaiah 34:8
Context34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, 11
a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. 12
Isaiah 37:22
Context37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: 13
“The virgin daughter Zion 14
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 15
Isaiah 65:19
Context65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,
and my people will bring me happiness. 16
The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow
will never be heard in her again.
1 tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.
2 tn Heb “filled with.”
3 tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.
4 sn The question forces the Philistines to consider the dilemma they will face – surrender and oppression, or battle and death.
5 tn Heb “Is this to you, boisterous one?” The pronoun “you” is masculine plural, like the imperatives in v. 6, so it is likely addressed to the Egyptians and residents of the coast. “Boisterous one” is a feminine singular form, probably referring to the personified city of Tyre.
6 tn Heb “in the days of antiquity [is] her beginning.”
7 tn Heb “the pride of all the beauty.”
8 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
9 tn Heb “visit [with favor]” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “will deal with.”
10 tn Heb “and she will return to her [prostitute’s] wages and engage in prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.”
11 tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”
12 tn Heb “a year of repayment for the strife of Zion.” The translation assumes that רִיב (riv) refers to Edom’s hostility toward Zion. Another option is to understand רִיב (riv) as referring to the Lord’s taking up Zion’s cause. In this case one might translate, “a time when he will repay Edom and vindicate Zion.”
13 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
14 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
15 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
16 tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”
