Discovery BoxIsaiah 4:1 
Context4:1 Seven women will grab hold of
one man at that time. 1
They will say, “We will provide 2 our own food,
we will provide 3 our own clothes;
but let us belong to you 4 –
take away our shame!” 5
Isaiah 5:19
Context5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, 6
so we can see;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel 7 take shape 8 and come to pass,
then we will know it!”
Isaiah 20:6
Context20:6 At that time 9 those who live on this coast 10 will say, ‘Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?’”
Isaiah 25:9
Context25:9 At that time they will say, 11
“Look, here 12 is our God!
We waited for him and he delivered us.
Here 13 is the Lord! We waited for him.
Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”
Isaiah 56:12
Context‘Come on, I’ll get some wine!
Let’s guzzle some beer!
Tomorrow will be just like today!
We’ll have everything we want!’ 15
Isaiah 58:3
Context58:3 They lament, 16 ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?
Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’
Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, 17
you oppress your workers. 18
Isaiah 59:9
Context59:9 For this reason deliverance 19 is far from us 20
and salvation does not reach us.
We wait for light, 21 but see only darkness; 22
we wait for 23 a bright light, 24 but live 25 in deep darkness. 26
Isaiah 59:12
Context59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, 27
and our sins testify against us;
indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;
we know our sins all too well. 28
Isaiah 64:5-6
Context64:5 You assist 29 those who delight in doing what is right, 30
who observe your commandments. 31
Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.
How then can we be saved? 32
64:6 We are all like one who is unclean,
all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight. 33
We all wither like a leaf;
our sins carry us away like the wind.
1 tn Or “in that day” (ASV).
sn The seven to one ratio emphasizes the great disparity that will exist in the population due to the death of so many men in battle.
2 tn Heb “eat” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “buy.”
3 tn Heb “wear” (so NASB, NRSV); NCV “make.”
4 tn Heb “only let your name be called over us.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28, and BDB 896 s.v. I ָקרָא Niph. 2.d.(4). The language reflects the cultural reality of ancient Israel, where women were legally the property of their husbands.
5 sn This refers to the humiliation of being unmarried and childless. The women’s words reflect the cultural standards of ancient Israel, where a woman’s primary duties were to be a wife and mother.
6 tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his ‘work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.
7 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
8 tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”
9 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).
10 sn This probably refers to the coastal region of Philistia (cf. TEV).
11 tn Heb “and one will say in that day.”
12 tn Heb “this [one].”
13 tn Heb “this [one].”
14 tn The words “each one says” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
15 tn Heb “great, [in] abundance, very much,” i.e., “very great indeed.” See HALOT 452 s.v. יֶתֶר.
16 tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
17 tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”
18 tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.
19 tn מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), which refers to “justice” in the earlier verses, here refers to “justice from God,” or “vindication.” Because the people are unjust, God refuses to vindicate them before their enemies. See v. 11.
20 sn The prophet speaks on behalf of the sinful nation and confesses its sins.
21 sn Light here symbolizes prosperity and blessing.
22 tn Heb “but, look, darkness”; NIV “but all is darkness.”
23 tn The words “we wait for” are supplied in the translation; the verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
24 tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.
25 tn Or “walk about”; NCV “all we have is darkness.”
26 tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.
27 tn Heb “for many are our rebellious deeds before you.”
28 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] our rebellious deeds (are) with us, and our sins, we know them.”
29 tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”
30 tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”
31 tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”
32 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).
33 tn Heb “and like a garment of menstruation [are] all our righteous acts”; KJV, NIV “filthy rags”; ASV “a polluted garment.”
