Yesaya 11:15

11:15 The Lord will divide ¹  the gulf ²  of the Egyptian Sea; ³ 

he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ⁴  and send a strong wind, ⁵ 

he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ⁶ 

and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

Yesaya 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ⁷  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ⁸ 

they say wonderful things about me, ⁹ 

but they are not really loyal to me. ¹⁰ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 48:11

48:11 For my sake alone ¹²  I will act,

for how can I allow my name to be defiled? ¹³ 

I will not share my glory with anyone else! ¹⁴ 

[11:15]  ¹ tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”

[11:15]  ² tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[11:15]  ³ sn That is, the Red Sea.

[11:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.

[11:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.

[11:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.

[29:13]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[29:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

[29:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

[29:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.

[29:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

[48:11]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lÿma’ani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.

[48:11]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).

[48:11]  ¹⁴ sn See 42:8.