Yesaya 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ¹ 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ² 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ³ 

Yesaya 64:7

64:7 No one invokes ⁴  your name,

or makes an effort ⁵  to take hold of you.

For you have rejected us ⁶ 

and handed us over to our own sins. ⁷ 

Yesaya 65:20

65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days ⁸ 

or an old man die before his time. ⁹ 

Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, ¹⁰ 

anyone who fails to reach ¹¹  the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

[50:1]  ¹ sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ² sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ³ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.

[64:7]  ⁴ tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”

[64:7]  ⁵ tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”

[64:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”

[64:7]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.

[65:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.

[65:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”

[65:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.

[65:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”