Discovery BoxIsaiah 50:2 
Context50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call? 1
Is my hand too weak 2 to deliver 3 you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout 4 I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water. 5
Isaiah 51:13
Context51:13 Why do you forget 6 the Lord, who made you,
who stretched out the sky 7
and founded the earth?
Why do you constantly tremble all day long 8
at the anger of the oppressor,
when he makes plans to destroy?
Where is the anger of the oppressor? 9
1 sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.
2 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
3 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
4 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
5 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”
6 tn Heb “and that you forget.”
7 tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
8 tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”
9 tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.
