Yesaya 23:1

The Lord Will Judge Tyre

23:1 Here is a message about Tyre:

Wail, you large ships, ¹ 

for the port is too devastated to enter! ² 

From the land of Cyprus ³  this news is announced to them.

Yesaya 24:10

24:10 The ruined town ⁴  is shattered;

all of the houses are shut up tight. ⁵ 

Yesaya 27:10

27:10 For the fortified city ⁶  is left alone;

it is a deserted settlement

and abandoned like the desert.

Calves ⁷  graze there;

they lie down there

and eat its branches bare. ⁸ 

Yesaya 32:14

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ⁹  city is abandoned.

Hill ¹⁰  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ¹¹ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ¹² 

Yesaya 34:11

34:11 Owls and wild animals ¹³  will live there, ¹⁴ 

all kinds of wild birds ¹⁵  will settle in it.

The Lord ¹⁶  will stretch out over her

the measuring line of ruin

and the plumb line ¹⁷  of destruction. ¹⁸ 

[23:1]  ¹ tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[23:1]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (bo’) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b.

[23:1]  ³ tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים.

[24:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “the city of chaos” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Isaiah uses the term תֹּהוּ (tohu) rather frequently of things (like idols) that are empty and worthless (see BDB 1062 s.v.), so the word might characterize the city as rebellious or morally worthless. However, in this context, which focuses on the effects of divine judgment, it probably refers to the ruined or worthless condition in which the city is left (note the use of the word in Isa 34:11). For a discussion of the identity of this city, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In the context of universal judgment depicted in Isa 24, this city represents all the nations and cities of the world which, like Babylon of old and the powers/cities mentioned in chapters 13-23, rebel against God’s authority. Behind the stereotypical language one can detect various specific manifestations of this symbolic and paradigmatic city, including Babylon, Moab, and Jerusalem, all of which are alluded or referred to in chapters 24-27.

[24:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “every house is closed up from entering.”

[27:10]  ⁶ sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.

[27:10]  ⁷ tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.

[27:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.

[32:14]  ⁹ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ¹⁰ tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

[32:14]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

[32:14]  ¹² tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

[34:11]  ¹³ tn קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (cf. Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). קִפּוֹד (qippod) may also refer to a type of bird (NAB “hoot owl”; NIV “screech owl”; TEV “ravens”), but some have suggested a rodent may be in view (cf. NCV “small animals”; ASV “porcupine”; NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”).

[34:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).

[34:11]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text has יַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב (yanshof vÿ’orev). Both the יַנְשׁוֹף (“owl”; see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16) and עֹרֵב (“raven”; Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14) were types of wild birds.

[34:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.

[34:11]  ¹⁸ sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.