Isaiah 44:14

New English Translation

¹⁴He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress^[a] or an oak.
He gets^[b] trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar^[c] and the rain makes it grow.

Isaiah 44:14 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
Isaiah 44:14 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
Isaiah 44:14 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (ʾoren) to אֶרֶז (ʾerez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”

New English Translation (NET)