Discovery BoxIsaiah 47:9-11 
Context47:9 Both of these will come upon you
suddenly, in one day!
You will lose your children and be widowed. 1
You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, 2
despite 3 your many incantations
and your numerous amulets. 4
47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; 5
you thought, 6 ‘No one sees me.’
Your self-professed 7 wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,
when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ 8
47:11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away. 9
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it. 10
1 tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.
2 tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”
3 tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.
4 sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.
5 tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”
6 tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”
7 tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
9 tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.
10 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”
