Yesaya 3:3

3:3 captains of groups of fifty,

the respected citizens, ¹ 

advisers and those skilled in magical arts, ² 

and those who know incantations.

Yesaya 40:20

40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; ³ 

he then seeks a skilled craftsman

to make ⁴  an idol that will not fall over.

Yesaya 47:15

47:15 They will disappoint you, ⁵ 

those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. ⁶ 

Each strays off in his own direction, ⁷ 

leaving no one to rescue you.”

Yesaya 5:22

5:22 Those who are champions ⁸  at drinking wine are as good as dead, ⁹ 

who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.

Yesaya 45:9

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ¹⁰ 

one who is like a mere ¹¹  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ¹² 

“What in the world ¹³  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 47:13

47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. ¹⁵ 

Let them take their stand –

the ones who see omens in the sky,

who gaze at the stars,

who make monthly predictions –

let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 49:8

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you ¹⁷  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ¹⁸ 

to rebuild ¹⁹  the land ²⁰ 

and to reassign the desolate property.

[3:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the ones lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.

[3:3]  ² tn Heb “and the wise with respect to magic.” On the meaning of חֲרָשִׁים (kharashim, “magic”), see HALOT 358 s.v. III חרשׁ. Some understand here a homonym, meaning “craftsmen.” In this case, one could translate, “skilled craftsmen” (cf. NIV, NASB).

[40:20]  ³ tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.

[40:20]  ⁴ tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”

[47:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”

[47:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.

[47:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”

[5:22]  ⁸ tn The language used here is quite sarcastic and paves the way for the shocking description of the enemy army in vv. 25-30. The rich leaders of Judah are nothing but “party animals” who are totally incapable of withstanding real warriors.

[5:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “Woe [to]….” See the note at v. 8.

[45:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ¹¹ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ¹² tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ¹³ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”

[47:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”

[47:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”

[49:8]  ¹⁷ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).

[49:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.

[49:8]  ¹⁹ tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”

[49:8]  ²⁰ tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.