Isaiah 18:1

The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, ¹  the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush,

Alas, oh land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,

Destruction is certain for the land of Ethiopia, which lies at the headwaters of the Nile. Its winged sailboats glide along the river,

Doom to the land of flies and mosquitoes beyond the Ethiopian rivers,

Ho! land of the sounding of wings, on the other side of the rivers of Ethiopia:

Ah, land of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,

Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,

The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, ¹  the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

sn The significance of the qualifying phrase “buzzing wings” is uncertain. Some suggest that the designation points to Cush as a land with many insects. Another possibility is that it refers to the swiftness with which this land’s messengers travel (v. 2a); they move over the sea as swiftly as an insect flies through the air. For a discussion of the options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:359-60.