Discovery BoxIsaiah 9:17 
Context9:17 So the sovereign master was not pleased 1 with their young men,
he took no pity 2 on their orphans and widows;
for the whole nation was godless 3 and did wicked things, 4
every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. 5
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. 6
Isaiah 11:15
Context11:15 The Lord will divide 7 the gulf 8 of the Egyptian Sea; 9
he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River 10 and send a strong wind, 11
he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, 12
and enable them to walk across in their sandals.
Isaiah 50:2
Context50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call? 13
Is my hand too weak 14 to deliver 15 you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout 16 I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water. 17
1 tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has לא יחמול (“he did not spare”) which is an obvious attempt to tighten the parallelism (note “he took no pity” in the next line). Instead of taking שָׂמַח (samakh) in one of its well attested senses (“rejoice over, be pleased with”), some propose, with support from Arabic, a rare homonymic root meaning “be merciful.”
2 tn The translation understands the prefixed verbs יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) and יְרַחֵם (yÿrakhem) as preterites without vav (ו) consecutive. (See v. 11 and the note on “he stirred up.”)
3 tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”
4 tn מֵרַע (mera’) is a Hiphil participle from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil”). The intransitive Hiphil has an exhibitive force here, indicating that they exhibited outwardly the evidence of an inward condition by committing evil deeds.
5 tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.
6 tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”
sn See the note at 9:12.
7 tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”
8 tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
9 sn That is, the Red Sea.
10 tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.
11 tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.
12 tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.
13 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.
14 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
15 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
16 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
17 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”
