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 19:14
Context19:14 The Lord has made them undiscerning; 4
they lead Egypt astray in all she does,
so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit. 5
Isaiah 36:17
Context36:17 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
Isaiah 39:7
Context39:7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father 6 will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
Isaiah 47:15
Context47:15 They will disappoint you, 7
those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. 8
Each strays off in his own direction, 9
leaving no one to rescue you.”
Isaiah 52:8
Context52:8 Listen, 10 your watchmen shout;
in unison they shout for joy,
for they see with their very own eyes 11
the Lord’s return to Zion.
Isaiah 56:11
Context56:11 The dogs have big appetites;
they are never full. 12
They are shepherds who have no understanding;
they all go their own way,
each one looking for monetary gain. 13
Isaiah 59:16
Context59:16 He sees there is no advocate; 14
he is shocked 15 that no one intervenes.
So he takes matters into his own hands; 16
his desire for justice drives him on. 17
Isaiah 64:7
Context64:7 No one invokes 18 your name,
or makes an effort 19 to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us 20
and handed us over to our own sins. 21
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 Heb “the Lord has mixed into her midst a spirit of blindness.”
5 tn Heb “like the going astray of a drunkard in his vomit.”
6 tn Heb “Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father.”
7 tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”
8 tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.
9 tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”
10 tn קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used at the beginning of the verse as an interjection.
11 tn Heb “eye in eye”; KJV, ASV “eye to eye”; NAB “directly, before their eyes.”
12 sn The phrase never full alludes to the greed of the leaders.
13 tn Heb “for his gain from his end.”
14 tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”
15 tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”
16 tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”
17 tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”
18 tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”
19 tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”
20 tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”
21 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.
