Discovery BoxIsaiah 17:11 
Context17:11 The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; 1
the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout.
Yet the harvest will disappear 2 in the day of disease
and incurable pain.
Isaiah 21:3
Context21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; 3
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed 4 by what I hear,
horrified by what I see.
Isaiah 25:8
Context25:8 he will swallow up death permanently. 5
The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,
and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
Indeed, the Lord has announced it! 6
Isaiah 44:28
Context44:28 who commissions 7 Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd 8
to carry out all my wishes 9
and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’
and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’” 10
Isaiah 48:20
Context48:20 Leave Babylon!
Flee from the Babylonians!
Announce it with a shout of joy!
Make this known!
Proclaim it throughout the earth! 11
Say, ‘The Lord protects 12 his servant Jacob.
Isaiah 57:1
Contextbut no one cares. 14
Honest people disappear, 15
that the godly 18 disappear 19 because of 20 evil. 21
Isaiah 57:10
Context57:10 Because of the long distance you must travel, you get tired, 22
but you do not say, ‘I give up.’ 23
You get renewed energy, 24
so you don’t collapse. 25
1 tn Heb “in the day of your planting you [?].” The precise meaning of the verb תְּשַׂגְשֵׂגִי (tÿsagsegi) is unclear. It is sometimes derived from שׂוּג/סוּג (sug, “to fence in”; see BDB 691 s.v. II סוּג). In this case one could translate “you build a protective fence.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one derives the form from שָׂגָא/שָׂגָה (saga’/sagah, “to grow”); see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:351, n. 4. For this verb, see BDB 960 s.v. שָׂגָא.
2 tc The Hebrew text has, “a heap of harvest.” However, better sense is achieved if נֵד (ned, “heap”) is emended to a verb. Options include נַד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד [nadad, “flee, depart”]), נָדַד (Qal perfect third masculine singular from נָדַד), נֹדֵד (noded, Qal active participle from נָדַד), and נָד (nad, Qal perfect third masculine singular, or participle masculine singular, from נוּד [nud, “wander, flutter”]). See BDB 626 s.v. נוּד and HALOT 672 s.v. I נדד. One could translate literally: “[the harvest] departs,” or “[the harvest] flies away.”
3 tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”
4 tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”
5 sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.
6 tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
7 tn Heb “says to.” It is possible that the sentence is not completed, as the description of Cyrus and his God-given role is developed in the rest of the verse. 45:1 picks up where 44:28a leaves off with the Lord’s actual words to Cyrus finally being quoted in 45:2.
8 tn Heb “my shepherd.” The shepherd motif is sometimes applied, as here, to a royal figure who is responsible for the well-being of the people whom he rules.
9 tn Heb “that he might bring to completion all my desire.”
10 tn Heb “and [concerning the] temple, you will be founded.” The preposition -לְ (lÿ) is understood by ellipsis at the beginning of the second line. The verb תִּוָּסֵד (tivvased, “you will be founded”) is second masculine singular and is probably addressed to the personified temple (הֵיכָל [hekhal, “temple”] is masculine).
11 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
12 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
13 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”
14 tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”
15 tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
16 tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.
17 tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
18 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”
19 tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
20 tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).
21 tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.
22 tn Heb “by the greatness [i.e., “length,” see BDB 914 s.v. רֹב 2] of your way you get tired.”
23 tn Heb “it is hopeless” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NRSV “It is useless.”
24 tn Heb “the life of your hand you find.” The term חַיָּה (khayyah, “life”) is here used in the sense of “renewal” (see BDB 312 s.v.) while יָד (yad) is used of “strength.”
25 tn Heb “you do not grow weak.”
