▼tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

▼tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

▼tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (ʾish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.

▼tn Heb “Eyes that see.”

▼tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (teshoʿenah) from שָׁעַע (shʿaʿa, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.

▼tn Heb “ears that hear.”

▼tn Heb “the heart of rashness will understand knowledge”; cf. NAB “The flighty will become wise and capable.”

▼tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

▼tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

▼tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

▼tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

▼tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”

▼tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”

▼tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV11 “they make up evil schemes.”

▼tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”

▼tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”

▼tn Or “self-assured”; NASB, NRSV “who are at ease.”

▼tn Or “self-confident”; NAB “overconfident.”

▼tn Heb “days upon a year.”

▼tn Or perhaps, “olive.” See 24:13.

▼tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khiredu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, shaʾanannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, regazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, peshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ʿorah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khiredu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “Aramaized” forms.

▼tc The Hebrew text has “over mourning breasts.” The reference to “breasts” would make sense in light of v. 11, which refers to the practice of women baring their breasts as a sign of sorrow (see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:585). However, one expects the preposition עַל (ʿal) to introduce the source or reason for mourning (see vv. 12b-13a) and the participle סֹפְדִים (sofedim, “mourning”) seems odd modifying “breasts.” The translation above assumes a twofold emendation: (1) שָׁדַיִם (shadayim, “breasts”) is emended to [ם]שָׂדַי (saday[m], “field,” a term that also appears in Isa 56:9). The final mem (ם) would be enclitic in this case, not a plural indicator. (The Hebrew noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh, “field”) forms its plural with an וֹת- [-ot] ending). (2) The plural participle סֹפְדִים is emended to סְפֹדָה (sefodah), a lengthened imperatival form, meaning “mourn.” For an overview of various suggestions that have been made for this difficult line, see Oswalt, 586, n. 12).

▼tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

▼tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.

▼sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.

▼tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

▼tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (ʿofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

▼tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (veʿad meʿarot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (meʿarot) as a homonym of “cave” and defines it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear—the city will be uninhabited.

▼tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

▼tn The words “The desolation will continue” refer to the previous context and have been added for smoothness.

▼tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (ʿarah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.

▼tn The term כַּרְמֶל (karmel) may refer to fertile land, an orchard, a garden of vines, a plantation of trees, or fresh grain. The dictionaries may subdivide these meaning under homonyms (see BDB 502, NIDOTTE 718, HALOT 499, The Concise DCH, 183). The picture of transformation is clearer when it is understood that a מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness”) is an area that does not receive enough rainfall to support trees.

▼sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.

▼sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.

▼tn Heb “and the product of fairness will be peace.”

▼tn Heb “and the work of fairness [will be] calmness and security forever.”

▼tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”

▼tn Heb “and [?] when the forest descends.” The form וּבָרַד (uvarad) is often understood as an otherwise unattested denominative verb meaning “to hail” (HALOT 154 s.v. I ברד). In this case one might translate, “and it hails when the forest is destroyed” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV). Perhaps the text alludes to a powerful wind and hail storm that knocks down limbs and trees. Some prefer to emend the form to וְיָרַד (veyarad), “and it descends,” which provides better, though not perfect, symmetry with the parallel line (cf. NAB). Perhaps וּבָרַד should be dismissed as dittographic. In this case the statement (“when the forest descends”) lacks a finite verb and seems incomplete, but perhaps it is subordinate to v. 20.

▼tn Heb “and in humiliation the city is laid low.”

▼tn Heb “by all the waters.”

▼tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”

▼sn This verse seems to anticipate a time when fertile land is available to cultivate and crops are so abundant that the farm animals can be allowed to graze freely.