Discovery BoxIsaiah 43:3-4 
Context43:3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, 1 your deliverer.
I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,
Ethiopia and Seba 2 in place of you.
43:4 Since you are precious and special in my sight, 3
and I love you,
I will hand over people in place of you,
nations in place of your life.
Isaiah 43:14
Context43:14 This is what the Lord says,
your protector, 4 the Holy One of Israel: 5
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and make them all fugitives, 6
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. 7
1 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
2 sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.
3 tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”
4 tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
5 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
6 tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”
7 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.
