turban is wound about.”
n-n Emendation yields “abode [cf. v. 16] of your body” [cf. 10.3, 16].
o Emendation yields “masters”; cf. v. 18 end.
p Apparently continues v. 19.
a-a See note at 2.16.
b Heb. “her.”
c-c Lit. “I have.”
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Pass on to the land of Kittim, / You ships of Tarshish.”
e Meaning of Heb. uncertain; taking mezah as a by-form of mahoz: cf. Ps. 107.30.
f Heb. “Canaan’s.”
g Meaning of verse uncertain. Emendation yields “The land of Kittim itself—/Which the Sidonian people founded,/Whose watchtowers they raised,/Whose citadels they erected—/Exists no more;/ Assyria has turned it into a ruin.”
h-h I.e., “trading … trade.”
a-a Change of vocalization yields “both sky and earth.”
b I.e., the moral law, which is binding on all men (cf. Gen. 9.4–6).
c Emendation yields “left.”
d-d Change of vocalization yields “They shall say.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Villain [Arabic razīil], foolish villain!/The faithless who acted faithlessly/Have been betrayed in turn.”
f-f Heb. pahad wa-pahath, wa-pah.
a See 9.5.
b Emendation yields “arrogant men.”
c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “rainstorm”; cf. 4d.
e I.e., the Holy Land, as in 11.9; 14.25; 57.13.
f Perhaps an allusion to the mass killings committed by the Assyrians; cf. 10.7; 14.20.
g-g Emendation yields “peoples.”
h Emendation yields “Assyria”; cf. 14.25.
i A village near Jerusalem; see 10.31. Emendation yields “As straw gets shredded in the threshing.”
j Lit. “midst.”
k-k Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “their citadels”; cf. the next verse.
l Heb. “your.”
a-a Emendation yields “my spirit in the morning.”
b Meaning of verse uncertain.
c Meaning of vv. 15–16 uncertain.
d Lit. “anguish”; taking saqun as a noun formed like zadon and sason.
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f Grammar of Heb. unclear.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b The monster which the Lord vanquished of old (cf. 51.9; Ps. 74.13–14) was the embodiment of chaos; here it stands for the forces of evil in the present world.
c Apparently the earth; cf. 26.21.
d So some mss. (cf. Amos 5.11); other mss. and the editions have “Wine.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “My eye is open upon it.”
f-f Lit. “Striving with her”; meaning of verse uncertain.
g This verse would read well before v. 6; the thought of vv. 7–8, dealing with the punishment of Israel’s enemies, is continued in vv. 10–11.
h-h Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Or like a terebinth whose boughs/Break when its crown is withered.”
a Ge is contracted from ge’e; cf. Ibn Ezra.
b Lit. “water.”
c-c Emendation yields “on the bough.”
d This is the drunkards’ reaction to Isaiah’s reproof.
e I.e., do not embark on any political adventure at this time.
f I.e., embark on the political adventure.
g-g Or “composers of taunt-verses for that people.”
h-h Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
i As in 1.27; 5.16; 10.22.
j I.e., I will make judgment and retribution My plan of action; cf. 34.11; 2 Kings 21.13.
k Instead of giving victory, as at Baal-perazim and Gibeon (cf. 2 Sam. 5.19–25; 1 Chron. 14.9–16), He will inflict punishment.
l In some Near Eastern countries, wheat is actually planted rather than scattered.
m Emendation yields “threshed.”
n-n Taking lo as equivalent to lu.
a A poetic name of Jerusalem; cf. 33.7.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; Septuagint reads “like David”; cf. v. 1.
d-d Manuscript IQIsa reads “haughty men.”
e-e Meaning of first line uncertain; emendation yields “Should the potter be accounted/Like the
f-f Emendation yields “He did not fashion me.”
g-g Emendation yields “Whose fathers He redeemed.”
a Or “Tanis.”
b Emendation yields “kings”; cf. 19.2 with note.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “Through the wasteland of the Negeb/Through a.…”
d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e See note on 14.29.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Disgrace and chagrin”; cf. v. 5.
g Understanding ‘ad, with Targum, as a variant of ‘ed.
h Change of vocalization yields “keep.”
i-i Lit. “The name of the LORD.”
j-j Presumably with a heavy load of punishment. Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
k Interpreting naphath like Arabic nāaf; meaning of line uncertain.
l-l Brought from v. 32 for clarity.
m A site near Jerusalem at which human beings were sacrificed by fire in periods of paganizing; see 2 Kings 23.10.
n Cf. Molech, Lev. 18.21; 20.2–5.
a Lit. “help.”
b-b Emendation yields “Then the children of Israel shall return.”
c From root mss; cf. 10.18; others “flee.”
d-d From root mss; cf. 10.18; others “become tributary.”
e-e Cf. note c; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f Cf. 30.33.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Emendation yields “for the fields.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “Brushland, desert.”
d Emendation yields “onagers”; cf. Job 39.5.
e I.e., the transformed wilderness will surpass in fertility what is now used as farm land.
f Meaning of verse uncertain.
g-g Lit. “let loose the feet of cattle and asses”; cf. 7.25 end.
a-a Emendation yields “You have been our help.”
b Heb. “your spoil.”
c Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “booty”; cf. v. 23.
d Taking &sbreve;qq as a cognate of q&sbreve;&sbreve;.
e Apparently for food; cf. Lev. 11.22.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g Heb. “his.”
h So a few manuscripts; cf. 29.1.
i I.e., Jerusalem’s; cf. Salem (Heb. Shalem), Ps. 76.3.
j 1QIsa reads “A pact.”
k-k Emendation yields “an obligation.”
l Heb. “your.”
m Emendation yields “brambles”; cf. 32.13.
n-n Emendation yields “perfection of beauty”; cf. Ps. 50.2.
o As in 59.13 and elsewhere; others “heart.”
p-p Brought up from v. 23 for clarity. The passage means that the Lord will render Jerusalem as inaccessible to enemies as if it were surrounded by an impassable sea.
q Heb. “your.”
r-r Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “even a blind man shall divide much spoil.”
a-a IQIsa reads “And the valleys shall be cleft,/And all the host of heaven shall wither.”
b-b IQIsa reads “be seen”; cf. Targum.
c-c Emendation yields “with fatted calves.”
d I.e., Edom’s.
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f I.e., He shall plan chaos and emptiness for it; cf. 28.17; Lam. 2.8.
g Most of the creatures in vv. 14–15 cannot be identified with certainty.
h A kind of demon.
i Heb. “My.”
a Lit. “crocus.”
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “a marsh.”
c Cf. 34.13.
d Emendation yields “for His people.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a Chaps. 36–39 occur also as 2 Kings 18.13–20.19, with a number of variants, some of which will be cited here in the footnotes.
b An Assyrian title; cf. “Tartan,” 20.1.
c 2 Kings 18.20 “You must think.”
d I.e., to my representative the Rabshakeh.
c I.e., the gods of Samaria.
a-a I.e., the situation is desperate, and we are at a loss.
b Lit. “put a spirit in.”
c Lit. “fathers.”
d So 2 Kings 19.17, and 13 mss. here; most mss. and editions read “lands.”
e Supplied from 2 Kings 19.19.
f-f Lit. “Its farmland forest”; exact meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g Or “dug”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
h-h So ms. IQIsa; cf. 2 Kings 19.26. The usual reading in our passage means, literally, “and a field [?] before standing grain.”
i I.e., Hezekiah.
j Supplied from 2 Kings 19.35.
a Heb. “steps.” A model of a dial with steps has been discovered in Egypt.
b Meaning of verse uncertain in part.
c I.e., visit His Temple. For “Yah” see 12.2; 26.4.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e Heb. singular.
f Neginothai is a poetic form of neginoth.
a-a Lit. “there shall be safety and faithfulness in.”
a-a IQIsa and Septuagint read “And I asked.”
b The reward and recompense to the cities of Judah; cf. Jer. 31.14, 16.
c Heb. shalish “third,” probably a third of an ephah.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e Heb. mesukkan; according to a Jewish tradition, preserved by Jerome, a kind of wood; a similar word denotes a kind of wood in Akkadian.
f Alluding to a popular belief that eagles regain their youth when they molt; cf. Ps. 103.5.
a-a Connection of Heb. uncertain.
b Lit. “victory.”
c Heb. “his.”
d ’rh has this meaning in Old Aramaic.
e-e Emendation yields “maggot.”
f I.e., on the homeward march through the desert.
g Taking yaggishu intransitively; cf. hiqriv. Exod. 14.10.
h I.e., former prophecies by your gods which have been fulfilled.
i Change of vocalization yields “fear”; cf. v. 10.
j-j Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Or “A bruised reed, he shall not be broken; / A dim wick, he shall not be snuffed out.”
b-b Lit. “covenants of a people”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c See 49.6 and note.
d-d An idiom meaning “freeing the imprisoned”; cf. 61.1.
e-e Emendation yields “Let the sea roar and its creatures,/The coastlands.…” Cf. Ps. 98.7.
f-f Lit. “from of old.”
g Emendation yields “desert.”
h Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
i-i Heb “you give.”
j Meaning of verse uncertain; cf. 43.9–12.
k Heb. “we.”
a I.e., that the other nations’ gods are real.
b Emendation yields “they.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d Understanding hosi, here, as equivalent to Aramaic shesi.
e IQIsa reads “paths”; cf. v. 16.
f I.e., in order to put an end to the profanation of My holy name; cf. 48.9–11.
g-g Emendation yields “My holy name”; see preceding note.
h Emendation yields “insult.”
a A name of Israel; see note on Num. 23.10; cf. Deut. 32.15; 33.5, 26.
b Lit. “in among.”
c It was customary to mark a slave with the owner’s name.
d Meaning of verse uncertain.
e The meaning of parts of vv. 12–13 is uncertain.
f I.e., the image he is making.
g Transposing the Heb. verbs for clarity.
h Lit. “see.”
i Lit. “He shepherds ashes.”
j Emendation yields “them,” these things.
k Lit. “with none beside me,” or (following many Heb. mss., kethib, and ancient versions) “who was with me?”
l Heb. “His.”
m I.e., the king whom I have designated.
a-a Heb. “I have.” Cf. note at 8.11.
b-b I.e., I made them helpless; one who wished to move freely belted his garment around the waist; cf. “engird,” v. 5.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d-d Emendation yields “To its maker, ‘You have no hands’?”
e-e Heb. imperative.
f I.e., Cyrus.
g-g Emendation yields “bearing tribute.” For “tribute” cf. Ezra 4.20; 6.8; Neh. 5.4.
h-h Emendation yields “Only in the LORD/Are there victory and might for man.”
i-i Lit. “come to”; for this idiom cf. Ps. 65.3; Job 6.20.
a Babylonian deities.
b Emendation yields “they.”
c Emendation yields “him who carried [them]”; cf. Targum.
d Lit. “beam [of the balance].”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f I.e., Cyrus; cf.