Discovery BoxIsaiah 8:11 
Context8:11 Indeed this is what the Lord told me. He took hold of me firmly and warned me not to act like these people: 1
Isaiah 48:9
Context48:9 For the sake of my reputation 2 I hold back my anger;
for the sake of my prestige 3 I restrain myself from destroying you. 4
Isaiah 63:15
Context63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal 5 and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion! 6
Isaiah 64:7
Context64:7 No one invokes 7 your name,
or makes an effort 8 to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us 9
and handed us over to our own sins. 10
Isaiah 64:9
Context64:9 Lord, do not be too angry!
Do not hold our sins against us continually! 11
Take a good look at your people, at all of us! 12
Isaiah 64:12
Context64:12 In light of all this, 13 how can you still hold back, Lord?
How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?
1 tc Heb “with strength of hand and he warned me from walking in the way of these people, saying.” Some want to change the pointing of the suffix and thereby emend the Qal imperfect יִסְּרֵנִי (yissÿreni, “he was warning me”) to the more common Piel perfect יִסְּרַנִי (yissÿrani, “he warned me”). Others follow the lead of the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and read יְסִירֵנִי (yÿsireni, “he was turning me aside,” a Hiphil imperfect from סוּר, sur).
2 tn Heb “for the sake of my name” (so NAB, NASB); NLT “for my own sake.”
3 tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
4 tn Heb “I restrain [myself] concerning you not to cut you off.”
5 tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.
6 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.
7 tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”
8 tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”
9 tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”
10 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.
11 tn Heb “do not remember sin continually.”
12 tn Heb “Look, gaze at your people, all of us.” Another option is to translate, “Take a good look! We are all your people.”
13 tn Heb “because of these”; KJV, ASV “for these things.”
