Discovery BoxIsaiah 17:12 
Context17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, 1
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. 2
The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, 3
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. 4
Isaiah 28:7
Context28:7 Even these men 5 stagger because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer –
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused 6 because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, 7
they totter while making legal decisions. 8
Isaiah 58:13
Context58:13 You must 9 observe the Sabbath 10
rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. 11
You must look forward to the Sabbath 12
and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. 13
You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,
and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. 14
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
2 tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”
3 tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.
4 tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”
5 tn Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.
6 tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.
7 tn Heb “in the seeing.”
8 tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”
9 tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.
10 tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”
11 tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”
12 tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”
13 tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).
14 tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).
