Discovery BoxIsaiah 6:12 
Context6:12 and the Lord has sent the people off to a distant place,
and the very heart of the land is completely abandoned. 1
Isaiah 32:14
Context32:14 For the fortress is neglected;
the once-crowded 2 city is abandoned.
Hill 3 and watchtower
are permanently uninhabited. 4
Wild donkeys love to go there,
and flocks graze there. 5
Isaiah 60:15
Context60:15 You were once abandoned
and despised, with no one passing through,
but I will make you 6 a permanent source of pride
and joy to coming generations.
Isaiah 62:12
Context62:12 They will be called, “The Holy People,
the Ones Protected 7 by the Lord.”
You will be called, “Sought After,
City Not Abandoned.”
1 tn Heb “and great is the abandonment in the midst of the land.”
2 tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).
3 tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.
4 tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.
5 tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”
6 tn Heb “Instead of your being abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you.”
7 tn Or “the redeemed of the Lord” (KJV, NAB).
