Isaiah 27:10-12

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 27:10 sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27, ” HAR 10 (1986), 332.
2. Isaiah 27:10 tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.
3. Isaiah 27:10 tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.
4. Isaiah 27:11 tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
5. Isaiah 27:11 tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried-up branches that is only good for firewood.
6. Isaiah 27:11 tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”
7. Isaiah 27:12 tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
8. Isaiah 27:12 tn Heb “the Lord will beat out.” The verb is used of beating seeds or grain to separate the husk from the kernel (see Judg 6:11; Ruth 2:17; Isa 28:27), and of beating the olives off the olive tree (Deut 24:20). The latter metaphor may be in view here, where a tree metaphor has been employed in the preceding verses. See also 17:6.
9. Isaiah 27:12 tn Heb “the river,” a frequent designation in the OT for the Euphrates. For clarity most modern English versions substitute the name “Euphrates” for “the river” here.
10. Isaiah 27:12 sn The Israelites will be freed from exile (likened to beating the olives off the tree) and then gathered (likened to collecting the olives).