Discovery BoxIsaiah 21:12 
Context21:12 The watchman replies,
“Morning is coming, but then night. 1
If you want to ask, ask;
come back again.” 2
Isaiah 26:13
Context26:13 O Lord, our God,
masters other than you have ruled us,
but we praise your name alone.
Isaiah 43:22
Context43:22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob;
you did not long 3 for me, O Israel.
Isaiah 48:10
Context48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have purified you 4 in the furnace of misery.
Isaiah 57:12
Context57:12 I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds, 5
but they will not help you.
Isaiah 63:10
Context63:10 But they rebelled and offended 6 his holy Spirit, 7
so he turned into an enemy
and fought against them.
Isaiah 63:18-19
Context63:18 For a short time your special 8 nation possessed a land, 9
but then our adversaries knocked down 10 your holy sanctuary.
63:19 We existed from ancient times, 11
but you did not rule over them,
they were not your subjects. 12
1 sn Dumah will experience some relief, but it will be short-lived as night returns.
2 sn The point of the watchman’s final instructions (“if you want to ask, ask; come again”) is unclear. Perhaps they are included to add realism to the dramatic portrayal. The watchman sends the questioner away with the words, “Feel free to come back and ask again.”
3 tn Or “strive”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “been weary of me.”
4 tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bÿkhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.
5 tn Heb “I, I will declare your righteousness and your deeds.”
6 tn Or “grieved, hurt the feelings of.”
7 sn The phrase “holy Spirit” occurs in the OT only here (in v. 11 as well) and in Ps 51:11 (51:13 HT), where it is associated with the divine presence.
8 tn Or “holy” (ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
9 tn Heb “for a short time they had a possession, the people of your holiness.”
10 tn Heb “your adversaries trampled on.”
11 tn Heb “we were from antiquity” (see v. 16). The collocation עוֹלָם + מִן + הָיָה (hayah + min + ’olam) occurs only here.
12 tn Heb “you did not rule them, your name was not called over them.” The expression “the name is called over” indicates ownership; see the note at 4:1. As these two lines stand they are very difficult to interpret. They appear to be stating that the adversaries just mentioned in v. 18 have not been subject to the Lord’s rule in the past, perhaps explaining why they could commit the atrocity described in v. 18b.
