Discovery BoxIsaiah 4:2 
Contextthe crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; 2
the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight
to those who remain in Israel. 3
Isaiah 13:11
Context13:11 4 I will punish the world for its evil, 5
and wicked people for their sin.
I will put an end to the pride of the insolent,
I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants. 6
Isaiah 25:11
Context25:11 Moab 7 will spread out its hands in the middle of it, 8
just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim;
the Lord 9 will bring down Moab’s 10 pride as it spreads its hands. 11
Isaiah 60:5
Context60:5 Then you will look and smile, 12
you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. 13
For the riches of distant lands 14 will belong to you
and the wealth of nations will come to you.
1 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
2 tn Heb “and the vegetation of the Lord will become beauty and honor.” Many English versions understand the phrase צֶמַח יְהוָה (tsemakh yÿhvah) as a messianic reference and render it, “the Branch of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and others). Though צֶמַח (tsemakh) is used by later prophets of a royal descendant (Jer 23;5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12), those passages contain clear contextual indicators that a human ruler is in view and that the word is being used in a metaphorical way of offspring. However, in Isa 4:2 there are no such contextual indicators. To the contrary, in the parallel structure of the verse צֶמַח יְהוָה corresponds to “produce of the land,” a phrase that refers elsewhere exclusively to literal agricultural produce (see Num 13:20, 26; Deut 1:25). In the majority of its uses צֶמַח refers to literal crops or vegetation (in Ps 65:10 the Lord is the source of this vegetation). A reference to the Lord restoring crops would make excellent sense in Isa 4 and the prophets frequently included this theme in their visions of the future age (see Isa 30:23-24; 32:20; Jer 31:12; Ezek 34:26-29; and Amos 9:13-14).
3 tn Heb “and the fruit of the land will become pride and beauty for the remnant of Israel.”
4 sn The Lord is definitely speaking (again?) at this point. See the note at v. 4.
5 tn Or “I will bring disaster on the world.” Hebrew רָעָה (ra’ah) could refer to the judgment (i.e., disaster, calamity) or to the evil that prompts it. The structure of the parallel line favors the latter interpretation.
6 tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; cf. NASB, NIV “the ruthless.”
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is probably the masculine noun מַתְבֵּן (matben, “heap of straw”) in v. 10 rather than the feminine noun מַדְמֵנָה (madmenah, “manure pile”), also in v. 10.
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn The Hebrew text has, “he will bring down his pride along with the [?] of his hands.” The meaning of אָרְבּוֹת (’arbot), which occurs only here in the OT, is unknown. Some (see BDB 70 s.v. אָרְבָּה) translate “artifice, cleverness,” relating the form to the verbal root אָרָב (’arav, “to lie in wait, ambush”), but this requires some convoluted semantic reasoning. HALOT 83 s.v. *אָרְבָּה suggests the meaning “[nimble] movements.” The translation above, which attempts to relate the form to the preceding context, is purely speculative.
12 tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
13 tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”
14 tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.
