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 33:20
Context33:20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!
a peaceful settlement,
a tent that stays put; 5
its stakes will never be pulled up;
none of its ropes will snap in two.
Isaiah 36:11
Context36:11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, 6 for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect 7 in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
Isaiah 51:16
Context51:16 I commission you 8 as my spokesman; 9
I cover you with the palm of my hand, 10
to establish 11 the sky and to found the earth,
to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” 12
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 “your eyes” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
5 tn Or “that does not travel”; NASB “which shall not be folded.”
6 sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Assyrian empire.
7 tn Or “in Hebrew” (NIV, NCV, NLT); NAB, NASB “in Judean.”
8 tn The addressee (second masculine singular, as in vv. 13, 15) in this verse is unclear. The exiles are addressed in the immediately preceding verses (note the critical tone of vv. 12-13 and the reference to the exiles in v. 14). However, it seems unlikely that they are addressed in v. 16, for the addressee appears to be commissioned to tell Zion, who here represents the restored exiles, “you are my people.” The addressee is distinct from the exiles. The language of v. 16a is reminiscent of 49:2 and 50:4, where the Lord’s special servant says he is God’s spokesman and effective instrument. Perhaps the Lord, having spoken to the exiles in vv. 1-15, now responds to this servant, who spoke just prior to this in 50:4-11.
9 tn Heb “I place my words in your mouth.”
10 tn Heb “with the shadow of my hand.”
11 tc The Hebrew text has לִנְטֹעַ (lintoa’, “to plant”). Several scholars prefer to emend this form to לִנְטֹת (lintot) from נָטָה (natah, “to stretch out”); see v. 13, as well as 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV. However, since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, LXX (and Aquila and Symmachus), and Vulgate support the MT reading, there is no need to emend the form. The interpretation is clear enough: Yahweh fixed the sky in its place.
12 tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough – the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).
