Discovery BoxIsaiah 5:18 
Context5:18 Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, 1
who pull sin as with cart ropes. 2
Isaiah 9:2
Context9:2 (9:1) The people walking in darkness
see a bright light; 3
light shines
on those who live in a land of deep darkness. 4
Isaiah 9:9
Context9:9 All the people were aware 5 of it,
the people of Ephraim and those living in Samaria. 6
Yet with pride and an arrogant attitude, they said, 7
Isaiah 14:16
Context14:16 Those who see you stare at you,
they look at you carefully, thinking: 8
“Is this the man who shook the earth,
the one who made kingdoms tremble?
Isaiah 24:8
Context24:8 The happy sound 9 of the tambourines stops,
the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,
the happy sound of the harp ceases.
Isaiah 28:6
Context28:6 He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions,
and strength to those who defend the city from attackers. 10
Isaiah 29:21
Context29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, 11
who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate 12
and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. 13
Isaiah 33:6
Context33:6 He is your constant source of stability; 14
he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; 15
he gives all this to those who fear him. 16
Isaiah 35:4
Context“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge!
With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” 18
Isaiah 35:9
Context35:9 No lions will be there,
no ferocious wild animals will be on it 19 –
they will not be found there.
Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
Isaiah 38:18
Context38:18 Indeed 20 Sheol does not give you thanks;
death does not 21 praise you.
Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.
Isaiah 43:8
Context43:8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,
those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
Isaiah 47:15
Context47:15 They will disappoint you, 22
those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. 23
Each strays off in his own direction, 24
leaving no one to rescue you.”
Isaiah 57:18
Context57:18 I have seen their behavior, 25
but I will heal them and give them rest,
and I will once again console those who mourn. 26
Isaiah 64:4
Context64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, 27
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who intervenes for those who wait for him.
2 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Woe to those who pull evil with the ropes of emptiness, and, as [with] ropes of a cart, sin.” Though several textual details are unclear, the basic idea is apparent. The sinners are so attached to their sinful ways (compared here to a heavy load) that they strain to drag them along behind them. If שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness”) is retained, it makes a further comment on their lifestyle, denouncing it as one that is devoid of what is right and destined to lead to nothing but destruction. Because “emptiness” does not form a very tight parallel with “cart” in the next line, some emend שָׁוְא to שֶׂה (she, “sheep”) and עֲגָלָה (’agalah, “cart”) to עֵגֶל (’egel, “calf”): “Those who pull evil along with a sheep halter are as good as dead who pull sin with a calf rope” (following the lead of the LXX and improving the internal parallelism of the verse). In this case, the verse pictures the sinners pulling sin along behind them as one pulls an animal with a halter. For a discussion of this view, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:163, n. 1. Nevertheless, this emendation is unnecessary. The above translation emphasizes the folly of the Israelites who hold on to their sin (and its punishment) even while they hope for divine intervention.
3 sn The darkness symbolizes judgment and its effects (see 8:22); the light represents deliverance and its effects, brought about by the emergence of a conquering Davidic king (see vv. 3-6).
4 tn Traditionally צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet) has been interpreted as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (so KJV, ASV, NIV), but usage indicates that the word, though it sometimes refers to death, means “darkness.” The term should probably be repointed as an abstract noun צַלְמוּת (tsalmut). See the note at Ps 23:4.
5 tn The translation assumes that vv. 9-10 describe the people’s response to a past judgment (v. 8). The perfect is understood as indicating simple past and the vav (ו) is taken as conjunctive. Another option is to take the vav on the perfect as consecutive and translate, “all the people will know.”
6 tn Heb “and the people, all of them, knew; Ephraim and the residents of Samaria.”
7 tn Heb “with pride and arrogance of heart, saying.”
8 tn The word “thinking” is supplied in the translation in order to make it clear that the next line records their thoughts as they gaze at him.
9 tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).
10 tn Heb “and [he will become] a spirit of justice for the one who sits [i.e., presides] over judgment, // and strength [for] the ones who turn back battle at the city gate.” The Lord will provide internal stability and national security.
11 tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”
12 sn Legal disputes were resolved at the city gate, where the town elders met. See Amos 5:10.
13 tn Heb “and deprive by emptiness the innocent.”
14 tn Heb “and he is the stability of your times.”
15 tn Heb “a rich store of deliverance, wisdom, and knowledge.”
16 tn Heb “the fear of the Lord, it is his treasure.”
17 tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.
18 tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.
19 tn Heb “will go up on it”; TEV “will pass that way.”
20 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
21 tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.
22 tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”
23 tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.
24 tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”
25 tn Heb “his ways” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); TEV “how they acted.”
26 tn Heb “and I will restore consolation to him, to his mourners.”
27 tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”
