Discovery BoxIsaiah 11:12-14 
Context11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;
he will gather Israel’s dispersed people 1
and assemble Judah’s scattered people
from the four corners of the earth.
11:13 Ephraim’s jealousy will end, 2
and Judah’s hostility 3 will be eliminated.
Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah,
and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim.
11:14 They will swoop down 4 on the Philistine hills to the west; 5
together they will loot the people of the east.
They will take over Edom and Moab, 6
and the Ammonites will be their subjects.
1 tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.
2 tn Heb “turn aside”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “depart.”
3 tn Heb “hostile ones of Judah.” Elsewhere when the substantival participle of צָרָר (tsarar) takes a pronominal suffix or appears in a construct relationship, the following genitive is objective. (For a list of texts see BDB 865 s.v. III צָרַר) In this case the phrase “hostile ones of Judah” means “those who are hostile toward Judah,” i.e., Judah’s enemies. However, the parallel couplet that follows suggests that Judah’s hostility toward Ephraim is in view. In this case “hostile ones of Judah” means “hostile ones from Judah.” The translation above assumes the latter, giving the immediate context priority over general usage.
4 tn Heb “fly.” Ephraim/Judah are compared to a bird of prey.
5 tn Heb “on the shoulder of Philistia toward the sea.” This refers to the slopes of the hill country west of Judah. See HALOT 506 s.v. כָּתֵף.
6 tn Heb “Edom and Moab [will be the place of] the outstretching of their hand,” i.e., included in their area of jurisdiction (see HALOT 648 s.v. ח(וֹ)מִשְׁלֹ).
