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 56:9
Context56:9 All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour,
all you wild animals in the forest!
Isaiah 64:1
Context64:1 (63:19b) 3 If only you would tear apart the sky 4 and come down!
The mountains would tremble 5 before you!
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 sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
4 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
5 tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.
