Discovery BoxIsaiah 16:1 
Context16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, 1
from Sela in the desert 2
to the hill of Daughter Zion.
Isaiah 57:9
Context57:9 You take olive oil as tribute 3 to your king, 4
along with many perfumes. 5
You send your messengers to a distant place;
you go all the way to Sheol. 6
1 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Send [a plural imperatival form is used] a ram [to] the ruler of the land.” The term כַּר (kar, “ram”) should be emended to the plural כָּרִים (karim). The singular form in the text is probably the result of haplography; note that the next word begins with a mem (מ).
2 tn The Hebrew text has “toward [across?] the desert.”
3 tn Heb “you journey with oil.”
4 tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.
5 tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”
6 sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.
