Isaiah 38:11-13

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 38:11 tn The Hebrew text has יָהּ יָהּ (yah yah, the abbreviated form of יְהוָה [y^ehvah] repeated), but this probably should be emended to יְהוָה.
2. Isaiah 38:11 tc The Hebrew text has חָדֶל (khadel), which appears to be derived from a verbal root meaning “to cease, refrain.” But the form has probably suffered an error of transmission; the original form (attested in a few medieval Hebrew mss) was likely חֶלֶד (kheled, “world”).
3. Isaiah 38:12 tn According to HALOT 217 s.v. דּוֹר this noun is a hapax legomenon meaning “dwelling place,” derived from a verbal root meaning “live” (see Ps 84:10). For an interpretation that understands the form as the well-attested noun meaning “generation,” see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:679, n. 4.
4. Isaiah 38:12 tn The verb form appears to be a Niphal from גָּלָה (galah), which normally means “uncovered, revealed” in the Niphal. Because of the following reference to a shepherd’s tent, some prefer to emend the form to וְנָגַל, a Niphal from גָלָל (galal, “roll”) and translate “is rolled [or “folded”] up.”
5. Isaiah 38:12 tn Heb “I rolled up, like a weaver, my life” (so ASV).
6. Isaiah 38:12 sn For a discussion of the imagery employed here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:684.
7. Isaiah 38:12 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”
8. Isaiah 38:13 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Piel from שָׁוַה (shavah). There are two homonyms שָׁוַה, one meaning in the Piel “level, smooth out,” the other “set, place.” Neither fits in v. 13. It is likely that the original reading was שִׁוַּעְתִּי (shivvaʿti, “I cry out”) from the verbal root שָׁוַע (shavaʿ), which occurs exclusively in the Piel.
9. Isaiah 38:13 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”