Yesaya 5:26

5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, ¹ 

he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.

Look, they ²  come quickly and swiftly.

Yesaya 22:3

22:3 ³ All your leaders ran away together –

they fled to a distant place;

all your refugees ⁴  were captured together –

they were captured without a single arrow being shot. ⁵ 

Yesaya 23:7

23:7 Is this really your boisterous city ⁶ 

whose origins are in the distant past, ⁷ 

and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

Yesaya 43:6

43:6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’

and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’

Bring my sons from distant lands,

and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,

Yesaya 49:12

49:12 Look, they come from far away!

Look, some come from the north and west,

and others from the land of Sinim! ⁸ 

Yesaya 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ⁹  to your king, ¹⁰ 

along with many perfumes. ¹¹ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ¹² 

Yesaya 57:19

57:19 I am the one who gives them reason to celebrate. ¹³ 

Complete prosperity ¹⁴  is available both to those who are far away and those who are nearby,”

says the Lord, “and I will heal them.

[5:26]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has literally, “for nations from a distance.” The following verses use singular forms to describe this nation, so the final mem (ם) on לְגּוֹיִם (lÿgoyim) may be enclitic or dittographic. In the latter case one could read לְגוֹי מֵרָחוֹק (lÿgoy merakhoq, “for a nation from a distance”; see Deut 28:49; Joel 3:8). Another possibility is to emend the text from לַגּוֹיִם מֵרָחוֹק (laggoyim merakhoq) to לְגוֹי מִמֶּרְחָק (lÿgoy mimmerkhaq, “for a nation from a distant place”) a phrase which occurs in Jer 5:15. In this case an error of misdivision has occurred in MT, the mem of the prefixed preposition being accidentally taken as a plural ending on the preceding word.

[5:26]  ² tn Heb “he.” Singular forms are used throughout vv. 26-30 to describe this nation, but for stylistic reasons the translation uses the plural for these collective singulars.

[22:3]  ³ tn Verse 3 reads literally, “All your leaders ran away, apart from a bow they were captured, all your found ones were captured together, to a distant place they fled.” J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:403, n. 3) suggests that the lines of the verse are arranged chiastically; lines 1 and 4 go together, while lines 2 and 3 are parallel. To translate the lines in the order they appear in the Hebrew text is misleading to the English reader, who is likely unfamiliar with, or at least insensitive to, chiastic parallelism. Consequently, the translation above arranges the lines as follows: line 1 (Hebrew) = line 1 (in translation); line 2 (Hebrew) = line 4 (in translation); line 3 (Hebrew) = line 3 (in translation); line 4 (Hebrew) = line 2 (in translation).

[22:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “all your found ones.” To achieve tighter parallelism (see “your leaders”) some prefer to emend the form to אַמִּיצַיִךְ (’ammitsayikh, “your strong ones”) or to נֶאֱמָצַיִךְ (ne’ematsayikh, “your strengthened ones”).

[22:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “apart from [i.e., without] a bow they were captured”; cf. NAB, NRSV “without the use of a bow.”

[23:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “Is this to you, boisterous one?” The pronoun “you” is masculine plural, like the imperatives in v. 6, so it is likely addressed to the Egyptians and residents of the coast. “Boisterous one” is a feminine singular form, probably referring to the personified city of Tyre.

[23:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the days of antiquity [is] her beginning.”

[49:12]  ⁸ tc The MT reads “Sinim” here; the Dead Sea Scrolls read “Syene,” a location in Egypt associated with modern Aswan. A number of recent translations adopt this reading: “Syene” (NAB, NRSV); “Aswan” (NIV); “Egypt” (NLT).

[49:12]  sn The precise location of the land of Sinim is uncertain, but since the north and west are mentioned in the previous line, it was a probably located in the distant east or south.

[57:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ¹² sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.

[57:19]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text has literally, “one who creates fruit of lips.” Perhaps the pronoun אֲנִי (’ani) should be inserted after the participle; it may have been accidentally omitted by haplography: נוּב שְׂפָתָיִם[אֲנִי] בּוֹרֵא (bore’ [’ani] nuv sÿfatayim). “Fruit of the lips” is often understood as a metonymy for praise; perhaps it refers more generally to joyful shouts (see v. 18).

[57:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Peace, peace.” The repetition of the noun emphasizes degree.