translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ISA

label: NET study note

text: Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.


text: Sharon was a plain located to the west, along the Mediterranean coast north of Joppa and south of Carmel.


text: The Valley of Achor (“Achor” means “trouble” in Hebrew) was the site of Achan’s execution. It was located to the east, near Jericho.


text: This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19 ) to a new creation of the cosmos.


text: A similar statement appears in 11:6 .


text: These words also appear in 11:7 .


text: Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14 , the primary allusion is to 11:8 , where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)