Yesaya 8:19

Darkness Turns to Light as an Ideal King Arrives

8:19 ¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

Yesaya 36:11

36:11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, ⁴  for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect ⁵  in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

Yesaya 49:22

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Yesaya 54:4

54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!

Don’t be intimidated, ⁶  for you will not be humiliated!

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. ⁷ 

Yesaya 66:2

66:2 My hand made them; ⁸ 

that is how they came to be,” ⁹  says the Lord.

I show special favor ¹⁰  to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say. ¹¹ 

[8:19]  ¹ tn It is uncertain if the prophet or the Lord is speaking in vv. 19-22. If the latter, then vv. 19-22 resume the speech recorded in vv. 12-15, after the prophet’s response in vv. 16-18.

[8:19]  ² tn Heb “inquire of the ritual pits and of the magicians who chirp and mutter.” The Hebrew word אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a אוֹב-בַּעֲלַת (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.

[8:19]  ³ tn Heb “Should a nation not inquire of its gods on behalf of the living, (by inquiring) of the dead?” These words appear to be a continuation of the quotation begun in the first part of the verse. אֱלֹהָיו (’elohayv) may be translated “its gods” or “its God.” Some take the second half of the verse as the prophet’s (or the Lord’s) rebuke of the people who advise seeking oracles at the ritual pits, but in this case the words “the dead on behalf of the living” are difficult to explain.

[36:11]  ⁴ sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Assyrian empire.

[36:11]  ⁵ tn Or “in Hebrew” (NIV, NCV, NLT); NAB, NASB “in Judean.”

[54:4]  ⁶ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ⁷ tn Another option is to translate, “the disgrace of our widowhood” (so NRSV). However, the following context (vv. 6-7) refers to Zion’s husband, the Lord, abandoning her, not dying. This suggests that an אַלְמָנָה (’almanah) was a woman who had lost her husband, whether by death or abandonment.

[66:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

[66:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

[66:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

[66:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”