Discovery BoxIsaiah 28:19 
Context28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed, 1 every morning it will sweep by,
it will come through during the day and the night.” 2
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
Isaiah 47:11
Context47:11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away. 3
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it. 4
1 tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
2 tn The words “it will come through” are supplied in the translation. The verb “will sweep by” does double duty in the parallel structure.
3 tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.
4 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”
