Discovery BoxIsaiah 3:24 
Context3:24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, 1
a rope will replace a belt,
baldness will replace braided locks of hair,
a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,
and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.
Isaiah 10:4
Context10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,
or to fall among those who have been killed. 2
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. 3
Isaiah 49:9
Context49:9 You will say 4 to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
and to those who are in dark dungeons, 5 ‘Emerge.’ 6
They will graze beside the roads;
on all the slopes they will find pasture.
Isaiah 61:1
Context61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen 7 me. 8
He has commissioned 9 me to encourage 10 the poor,
to help 11 the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners,
1 tn Heb “and it will be in place of spices there will be a stench.” The nouns for “spices” and “stench” are right next to each other in the MT for emphatic contrast. The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
2 tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.
3 tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”
sn See the note at 9:12.
4 tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.
5 tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”
6 tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).
7 tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.
8 sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).
9 tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”
10 tn Or “proclaim good news to.”
11 tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”
