Yesaya 21:12

21:12 The watchman replies,

“Morning is coming, but then night. ¹ 

If you want to ask, ask;

come back again.” ² 

Yesaya 37:28

37:28 I know where you live

and everything you do

and how you rage against me. ³ 

Yesaya 45:17

45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; ⁴ 

you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. ⁵ 

[21:12]  ¹ sn Dumah will experience some relief, but it will be short-lived as night returns.

[21:12]  ² sn The point of the watchman’s final instructions (“if you want to ask, ask; come again”) is unclear. Perhaps they are included to add realism to the dramatic portrayal. The watchman sends the questioner away with the words, “Feel free to come back and ask again.”

[37:28]  ³ tc Heb “your going out and your coming in and how you have raged against me.” Several scholars have suggested that this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line). However, most English translations include the statement in question at the end of v. 28 and the beginning of v. 29. Interestingly, the LXX does not have this clause at the end of v. 28 and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does not have it at the beginning of v. 29. In light of this ambiguous manuscript evidence, it appears best to retain the clause in both verses.

[45:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”

[45:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”