translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ISA

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7 .


text: Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.


text: Heb “which [is].”


text: Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן ( halume yayin , “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם ( shikkore ’ efrayim , “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.


text: The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’ adonay ).


text: Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”


text: Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”


text: Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”


text: The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.


text: Or “by [his] power.”


text: Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”


text: Or “in that day” (KJV).


text: Heb “and [he will become] a spirit of justice for the one who sits [i.e., presides] over judgment, // and strength [for] the ones who turn back battle at the city gate.” The Lord will provide internal stability and national security.


text: Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.


text: According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע , the verb form is derived from בָּלַע ( bala ’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16 .


text: Heb “in the seeing.”


text: Heb “[in] giving a decision.”


text: Heb “vomit, without a place.” For the meaning of the phrase בְּלִי מָקוֹם ( bÿli maqom , “without a place”), see HALOT 133 s.v. בְּלִי .


text: Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “Who is he teaching knowledge? For whom is he explaining a message?” The translation assumes that the Lord is the subject of the verbs “teaching” and “explaining,” and that the prophet is asking the questions. See v. 12 . According to some vv. 9-10 record the people’s sarcastic response to the Lord’s message through Isaiah.


text: Heb “from the breasts.” The words “their mother’s” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The translation assumes that this is the prophet’s answer to the questions asked in the first half of the verse. The Lord is trying to instruct people who are “infants” morally and ethically.


text: The meaning of this verse has been debated. The text has literally “indeed [or “for”] a little there, a little there” ( כִּי צַו לָצָו צַו לָצָו קַו לָקָו קַו , ki tsav latsav , tsav latsav , qav laqav , qav laqav ). The present translation assumes that the repetitive syllables are gibberish that resembles baby talk (cf v. 9 b) and mimics what the people will hear when foreign invaders conquer the land (v. 11 ). In this case זְעֵיר ( zÿ ’ er , “a little”) refers to the short syllabic structure of the babbling (cf. CEV). Some take צַו ( tsav ) as a derivative of צָוָה ( tsavah , “command”) and translate the first part of the statement as “command after command, command after command.” Proponents of this position (followed by many English versions) also take קַו ( qav ) as a noun meaning “measuring line” (see v. 17 ), understood here in the abstract sense of “standard” or “rule.”


text: Heb “who said to them.”


text: Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10 . In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10 ), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12 ). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.


text: Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9 b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן ( lÿma ’ an ) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה ( khozeh ) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת ( khazut , “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18 . Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה .


text: Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).


label: NET textual note

text: The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד ( yosed ), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.


text: Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.


text: Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.


text: Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15 .


text: On the meaning of כָּפַר ( kafar ) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.


text: Normally the noun חָזוּת ( khazut ) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15 .


text: Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).


text: See the note at v. 15 .


text: Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”


text: Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).


text: The words “it will come through” are supplied in the translation. The verb “will sweep by” does double duty in the parallel structure.


text: Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).


text: Heb “to my voice.”


text: Heb “to my word”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “hear my speech.”


text: Heb “All the day does the plowman plow in order to plant?” The phrase “all the day” here has the sense of “continually, always.” See BDB 400 s.v. יוֹם .


text: The Hebrew text reads literally, “place wheat [?], and barley [?], and grain in its territory.” The term שׂוֹרָה ( shorah ) is sometimes translated “[in] its place,” but the word is unattested elsewhere. It is probably due to dittography of the immediately following שְׂעֹרָה ( sÿo ’ rah , “barley”). The meaning of נִסְמָן ( nisman ) is also uncertain. It may be due to dittography of the immediately following כֻסֶּמֶת ( kussemet , “grain”).


text: Heb “he teaches him the proper way, his God instructs him.”


text: Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB).