Yesaya 38:12-13

38:12 My dwelling place ¹  is removed and taken away ²  from me

like a shepherd’s tent.

I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth; ³ 

from the loom he cuts me off. ⁴ 

You turn day into night and end my life. ⁵ 

38:13 I cry out ⁶  until morning;

like a lion he shatters all my bones;

you turn day into night and end my life. ⁷ 

Yesaya 40:6-7

40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”

Another asks, ⁸  “What should I cry out?”

The first voice responds: ⁹  “All people are like grass, ¹⁰ 

and all their promises ¹¹  are like the flowers in the field.

40:7 The grass dries up,

the flowers wither,

when the wind sent by the Lord ¹²  blows on them.

Surely humanity ¹³  is like grass.

[38:12]  ¹ tn According to HALOT 217 s.v. דּוֹר this noun is a hapax legomenon meaning “dwelling place,” derived from a verbal root meaning “live” (see Ps 84:10). For an interpretation that understands the form as the well-attested noun meaning “generation,” see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:679, n. 4.

[38:12]  ² tn The verb form appears to be a Niphal from גָּלָה (galah), which normally means “uncovered, revealed” in the Niphal. Because of the following reference to a shepherd’s tent, some prefer to emend the form to וְנָגַל, a Niphal from גָלָל (galal, “roll”) and translate “is rolled [or “folded”] up.”

[38:12]  ³ tn Heb “I rolled up, like a weaver, my life” (so ASV).

[38:12]  ⁴ sn For a discussion of the imagery employed here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:684.

[38:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”

[38:13]  ⁶ tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Piel from שָׁוַה (shavah). There are two homonyms שָׁוַה, one meaning in the Piel “level, smooth out,” the other “set, place.” Neither fits in v. 13. It is likely that the original reading was שִׁוַּעְתִּי (shivva’ti, “I cry out”) from the verbal root שָׁוַע (shava’), which occurs exclusively in the Piel.

[38:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”

[40:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he says.” Apparently a second “voice” responds to the command of the first “voice.”

[40:6]  ⁹ tn The words “the first voice responds” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first voice tells the second one what to declare.

[40:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all flesh is grass.” The point of the metaphor is explained in v. 7.

[40:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and all his loyalty.” The antecedent of the third masculine suffix is בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”), which refers collectively to mankind. The LXX, apparently understanding the antecedent as “grass,” reads “glory,” but חֶסֶד (khesed) rarely, if ever, has this nuance. The normal meaning of חֶסֶד (“faithfulness, loyalty, devotion”) fits very well in the argument. Human beings and their faithfulness (verbal expressions of faithfulness are specifically in view; cf. NRSV “constancy”) are short-lived and unreliable, in stark contrast to the decrees and promises of the eternal God.

[40:7]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text has רוּחַ יְהוָה (ruakh yehvah), which in this context probably does not refer to the Lord’s personal Spirit. The phrase is better translated “the breath of the Lord,” or “the wind of [i.e., sent by] the Lord.” The Lord’s sovereign control over nature, including the hot desert winds that dry up vegetation, is in view here (cf. Ps 147:18; Isa 59:19).

[40:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “the people” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).