Discovery BoxIsaiah 2:2 
Contextthe mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure 2
as the most important of mountains,
and will be the most prominent of hills. 3
All the nations will stream to it,
Isaiah 30:8
Context30:8 Now go, write it 4 down on a tablet in their presence, 5
inscribe it on a scroll,
so that it might be preserved for a future time
as an enduring witness. 6
Isaiah 41:22
Context41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, 7
so we may examine them 8 and see how they were fulfilled. 9
Or decree for us some future events!
Isaiah 44:7
Context44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! 10
Let him announce it and explain it to me –
since I established an ancient people – 11
let them announce future events! 12
1 tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.
2 tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.
4 tn The referent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix is uncertain. Perhaps it refers to the preceding message, which accuses the people of rejecting the Lord’s help in favor of an alliance with Egypt.
5 tn Heb “with them.” On the use of the preposition here, see BDB 86 s.v. II אֵת.
6 sn Recording the message will enable the prophet to use it in the future as evidence that God warned his people of impending judgment and clearly spelled out the nation’s guilt. An official record of the message will also serve as proof of the prophet’s authority as God’s spokesman.
7 tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”
8 tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”
9 tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”
10 tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”
11 tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.
12 tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”
