Yesaya 28:1

The Lord Will Judge Samaria

28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, ¹ 

the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, ² 

situated ³  at the head of a rich valley,

the crown of those overcome with wine. ⁴ 

Yesaya 28:21

28:21 For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, ⁵ 

he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, ⁶ 

to accomplish his work,

his peculiar work,

to perform his task,

his strange task. ⁷ 

Yesaya 30:17

30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; ⁸ 

at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, ⁹ 

until the remaining few are as isolated ¹⁰ 

as a flagpole on a mountaintop

or a signal flag on a hill.”

[28:1]  ¹ tn 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.

[28:1]  ² tn 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 In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.

[28:1]  ³ tn Heb “which [is].”

[28:1]  ⁴ tn 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.

[28:21]  ⁵ sn This probably alludes to David’s victory over the Philistines at Baal Perazim. See 2 Sam 5:20.

[28:21]  ⁶ sn This probably alludes to the Lord’s victory over the Canaanites at Gibeon, during the days of Joshua. See Josh 10:10-11.

[28:21]  ⁷ sn God’s judgment of his own people is called “his peculiar work” and “his strange task,” because he must deal with them the way he treated their enemies in the past.

[30:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.

[30:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.

[30:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).