Discovery BoxIsaiah 29:10 
Context29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a strong urge to sleep deeply. 1
He has shut your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
Isaiah 54:6
Context54:6 “Indeed, the Lord will call you back
like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, 2
like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.
Isaiah 57:16
Context57:16 For I will not be hostile 3 forever
or perpetually angry,
for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, 4
the life-giving breath I created.
1 tn Heb “a disposition [or “spirit”] of deep sleep.” Through this mixed metaphor (sleep is likened to a liquid which one pours and in turn symbolizes spiritual dullness) the prophet emphasizes that God himself has given the people over to their spiritual insensitivity as a form of judgment.
2 tn Heb “like a woman abandoned and grieved in spirit.”
3 tn Or perhaps, “argue,” or “accuse” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
4 tn Heb “for a spirit from before me would be faint.”
