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 28:7
Context28:7 Even these men 7 stagger because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer –
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused 8 because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, 9
they totter while making legal decisions. 10
Isaiah 36:12
Context36:12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. 11 His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!” 12
Isaiah 45:14
Context45:14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit 13 of Egypt and the revenue 14 of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you 15 and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. 16
They will bow down to you
and pray to you: 17
‘Truly God is with 18 you; he has no peer; 19
there is no other God!’”
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 Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.
8 tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.
9 tn Heb “in the seeing.”
10 tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”
11 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
12 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”
sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.
13 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
14 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
15 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
16 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
17 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
18 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
19 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.
