Discovery BoxIsaiah 2:6 
Context2:6 Indeed, O Lord, 1 you have abandoned your people,
the descendants of Jacob.
For diviners from the east are everywhere; 2
they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. 3
Plenty of foreigners are around. 4
Isaiah 9:12
Context9:12 Syria from the east,
and the Philistines from the west,
they gobbled up Israelite territory. 5
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. 6
Isaiah 11:14
Context11:14 They will swoop down 7 on the Philistine hills to the west; 8
together they will loot the people of the east.
They will take over Edom and Moab, 9
and the Ammonites will be their subjects.
Isaiah 41:2
Context41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? 10
Who 11 officially commissions him for service? 12
He hands nations over to him, 13
and enables him to subdue 14 kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow. 15
Isaiah 46:11
Context46:11 who summons an eagle 16 from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed, 17
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
Isaiah 59:19
Context59:19 In the west, people respect 18 the Lord’s reputation; 19
in the east they recognize his splendor. 20
For he comes like a rushing 21 stream
driven on by wind sent from the Lord. 22
1 tn The words “O Lord” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Isaiah addresses the Lord in prayer.
2 tc Heb “they are full from the east.” Various scholars retain the BHS reading and suggest that the prophet makes a general statement concerning Israel’s reliance on foreign customs (J. Watts, Isaiah [WBC], 1:32; J. de Waard, Isaiah, 12-13). Nevertheless, it appears that a word is missing. Based on the parallelism (note “omen readers” in 5:6c), many suggest that קֹסְמִים (qosÿmim, “diviners”) or מִקְסָם (miqsam, “divination”) has been accidentally omitted. Homoioteleuton could account for the omission of an original קֹסְמִים (note how this word and the following מִקֶּדֶם [miqqedem, “from the east”] both end in mem); an original מִקְסָם could have fallen out by homoioarcton (note how this word and the following מִקֶּדֶם both begin with mem).
3 tn Heb “and omen readers like the Philistines.” Through this line and the preceding, the prophet contends that Israel has heavily borrowed the pagan practices of the east and west (in violation of Lev 19:26; Deut 18:9-14).
4 tn Heb “and with the children of foreigners they [?].” The precise meaning of the final word is uncertain. Some take this verb (I שָׂפַק, safaq) to mean “slap,” supply the object “hands,” and translate, “they slap [hands] with foreigners”; HALOT 1349 s.v. I שׂפק. This could be a reference to foreign alliances. This translation has two disadvantages: It requires the conjectural insertion of “hands” and the use of this verb with its object prefixed with a בְּ (bet) preposition with this meaning does not occur elsewhere. The other uses of this verb refer to clapping at someone, an indication of hostility. The translation above assumes the verb is derived from II שׂפק (“to suffice,” attested in the Qal in 1 Kgs 20:10; HALOT 1349 s.v. II שׂפק). In this case the point is that a sufficient number of foreigners (in this case, too many!) live in the land. The disadvantage of this option is that the preposition prefixed to “the children of foreigners” does not occur with this verb elsewhere. The chosen translation is preferred since it continues the idea of abundant foreign influence and does not require a conjectural insertion or emendation.
5 tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”
6 tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)
7 tn Heb “fly.” Ephraim/Judah are compared to a bird of prey.
8 tn Heb “on the shoulder of Philistia toward the sea.” This refers to the slopes of the hill country west of Judah. See HALOT 506 s.v. כָּתֵף.
9 tn Heb “Edom and Moab [will be the place of] the outstretching of their hand,” i.e., included in their area of jurisdiction (see HALOT 648 s.v. ח(וֹ)מִשְׁלֹ).
10 sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).
11 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.
12 tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”
13 tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”
14 tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).
15 sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.
16 tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
17 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
18 tc Heb “fear.” A few medieval Hebrew
19 tn Heb “and they fear from the west the name of the Lord.”
20 tn Heb “and from the rising of the sun his splendor.”
21 tn Heb “narrow”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “pent-up.”
22 tn Heb “the wind of the Lord drives it on.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh) could be translated “breath” here (see 30:28).
