Discovery BoxIsaiah 57:9-11 
Context57:9 You take olive oil as tribute 1 to your king, 2
along with many perfumes. 3
You send your messengers to a distant place;
you go all the way to Sheol. 4
57:10 Because of the long distance you must travel, you get tired, 5
but you do not say, ‘I give up.’ 6
You get renewed energy, 7
so you don’t collapse. 8
57:11 Whom are you worried about?
Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully
and not remember me
or think about me? 9
Because I have been silent for so long, 10
you are not afraid of me. 11
1 tn Heb “you journey with oil.”
2 tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.
3 tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”
4 sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.
5 tn Heb “by the greatness [i.e., “length,” see BDB 914 s.v. רֹב 2] of your way you get tired.”
6 tn Heb “it is hopeless” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NRSV “It is useless.”
7 tn Heb “the life of your hand you find.” The term חַיָּה (khayyah, “life”) is here used in the sense of “renewal” (see BDB 312 s.v.) while יָד (yad) is used of “strength.”
8 tn Heb “you do not grow weak.”
9 tn Heb “you do not place [it] on your heart.”
10 tn Heb “Is it not [because] I have been silent, and from long ago?”
11 sn God’s patience with sinful Israel has caused them to think that they can sin with impunity and suffer no consequences.
