Discovery BoxIsaiah 44:8 
Context44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! 1
Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?
There is no other sheltering rock; 2 I know of none.
Isaiah 45:18
Context45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 3
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 4
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
1 tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa.
2 tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”
3 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
4 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
