Discovery BoxIsaiah 21:9 
Context21:9 Look what’s coming!
A charioteer,
a team of horses.” 1
When questioned, he replies, 2
“Babylon has fallen, fallen!
All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
Isaiah 25:8
Context25:8 he will swallow up death permanently. 3
The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,
and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
Indeed, the Lord has announced it! 4
Isaiah 50:4
Context50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, 5
so that I know how to help the weary. 6
He wakes me up every morning;
he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. 7
1 tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”
2 tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).
3 sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.
4 tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
5 tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”
sn Verses 4-11 contain the third of the so-called servant songs, which depict the career of the Lord’s special servant, envisioned as an ideal Israel (49:3) who rescues the exiles and fulfills God’s purposes for the world. Here the servant alludes to opposition (something hinted at in 49:4), but also expresses his determination to persevere with the Lord’s help.
6 tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.
7 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”
