Discovery BoxIsaiah 9:20 
Context9:20 They devoured 1 on the right, but were still hungry,
they ate on the left, but were not satisfied.
People even ate 2 the flesh of their own arm! 3
Isaiah 12:1
Context12:1 At that time 4 you will say:
“I praise you, O Lord,
for even though you were angry with me,
your anger subsided, and you consoled me.
Isaiah 32:7
Context32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; 5
he dreams up evil plans 6
to ruin the poor with lies,
even when the needy are in the right. 7
Isaiah 45:5
Context45:5 I am the Lord, I have no peer, 8
there is no God but me.
I arm you for battle, 9 even though you do not recognize 10 me.
Isaiah 53:4
Context53:4 But he lifted up our illnesses,
he carried our pain; 11
even though we thought he was being punished,
attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. 12
Isaiah 59:14
Context59:14 Justice is driven back;
godliness 13 stands far off.
Indeed, 14 honesty stumbles in the city square
and morality is not even able to enter.
1 tn Or “cut.” The verb גָּזַר (gazar) means “to cut.” If it is understood here, then one might paraphrase, “They slice off meat on the right.” However, HALOT 187 s.v. I גזר, proposes here a rare homonym meaning “to devour.”
2 tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.
3 tn Some suggest that זְרֹעוֹ (zÿro’o, “his arm”) be repointed זַרְעוֹ (zar’o, “his offspring”). In either case, the metaphor is that of a desperately hungry man who resorts to an almost unthinkable act to satisfy his appetite. He eats everything he can find to his right, but still being unsatisfied, then turns to his left and eats everything he can find there. Still being desperate for food, he then resorts to eating his own flesh (or offspring, as this phrase is metaphorically understood by some English versions, e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The reality behind the metaphor is the political turmoil of the period, as the next verse explains. There was civil strife within the northern kingdom; even the descendants of Joseph were at each other’s throats. Then the northern kingdom turned on their southern brother, Judah.
4 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
5 tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”
6 tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”
7 tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”
8 tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (’od) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.
9 tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).
10 tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”
11 sn Illness and pain stand by metonymy (or perhaps as metaphors) for sin and its effects, as vv. 11-12 make clear.
12 tn The words “for something he had done” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The group now realizes he suffered because of his identification with them, not simply because he was a special target of divine anger.
13 tn Or “righteousness” (ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NAB “justice.”
14 tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).
