Discovery BoxIsaiah 5:19 
Context5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, 1
so we can see;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel 2 take shape 3 and come to pass,
then we will know it!”
Isaiah 40:21
Context40:21 Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
Isaiah 40:28
Context40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth. 4
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom. 5
Isaiah 44:8
Context44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! 6
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; 7 I know of none.
Isaiah 47:11
Context47:11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away. 8
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it. 9
Isaiah 48:6
Context48:6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! 10
Will you not admit that what I say is true? 11
From this point on I am announcing to you new events
that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. 12
Isaiah 50:4
Context50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, 13
so that I know how to help the weary. 14
He wakes me up every morning;
he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. 15
Isaiah 51:7
Context51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law! 16
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!
Isaiah 58:14
Context58:14 Then you will find joy in your relationship to the Lord, 17
and I will give you great prosperity, 18
and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.” 19
Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. 20
Isaiah 59:12
Context59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, 21
and our sins testify against us;
indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;
we know our sins all too well. 22
Isaiah 63:16
Context63:16 For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not recognize us.
You, Lord, are our father;
you have been called our protector from ancient times. 23
1 tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his ‘work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.
2 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
3 tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”
4 tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.
5 sn Exiled Israel’s complaint (v. 27) implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps he, like so many of the pagan gods, has died. Or perhaps his jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe he is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue his people, or is unable to execute it. But v. 28 affirms that he is not limited temporally or spatially nor is his power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver his people, if they respond in hopeful faith (v. 31a).
6 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.
7 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.”
8 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.
9 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”
10 tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”
11 tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”
12 tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”
13 tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”
sn Verses 4-11 contain the third of the so-called servant songs, which depict the career of the Lord’s special servant, envisioned as an ideal Israel (49:3) who rescues the exiles and fulfills God’s purposes for the world. Here the servant alludes to opposition (something hinted at in 49:4), but also expresses his determination to persevere with the Lord’s help.
14 tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.
15 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”
16 tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”
17 tn For a parallel use of the phrase “find joy in” (Hitpael of עָנַג [’anag] followed by the preposition עַל [’al]), see Ps 37:4.
18 tn Heb “and I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the land.” The statement seems to be an allusion to Deut 32:13, where it is associated, as here, with God’s abundant provision of food.
19 tn Heb “and I will cause you to eat the inheritance of Jacob your father.” The Hebrew term נַחֲלָה (nakhalah) likely stands by metonymy for the crops that grow on Jacob’s “inheritance” (i.e., the land he inherited as a result of God’s promise).
20 tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The introductory כִּי (ki) may be asseverative (as reflected in the translation) or causal/explanatory, explaining why the preceding promise will become reality (because it is guaranteed by the divine word).
21 tn Heb “for many are our rebellious deeds before you.”
22 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] our rebellious deeds (are) with us, and our sins, we know them.”
23 tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”
