Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Jerusalem will outlast its enemies, its sinners will be eradicated, and the people will enjoy an idyllic future.
II. Photo
God will cure blindness: “In that day, the deaf shall hear even written words, and the eyes of the blind shall see even in darkness and obscurity!” (v. 18)
III. Important Verses
1: Ah, Ariel, Ariel, City where David camped! Add year to year, Let festivals come in their cycles!
5b-8: And suddenly, in an instant, She shall be remembered of the LORD of Hosts With roaring, and shaking, and deafening noise, Storm, and tempest, and blaze of consuming fire. Then, like a dream, a vision of the night, Shall be the multitude of nations That war upon Ariel, And all her besiegers, and the siegeworks against her, And those who harass her. Like one who is hungry And dreams he is eating, But wakes to find himself empty; And like one who is thirsty And dreams he is drinking, But wakes to find himself faint And utterly parched — So shall be all the multitude of nations That war upon Mount Zion.
10-12: For the LORD has spread over you A spirit of deep sleep, And has shut your eyes, the prophets, And covered your heads, the seers; So that all prophecy has been to you Like the words of a sealed document. If it is handed to one who can read and he is asked to read it, he will say, “I can’t, because it is sealed”; and if the document is handed to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it, he will say, “I can’t read.”
15-16: Ha! Those who would hide their plans Deep from the LORD! Who do their work in dark places And say, “Who sees us, who takes note of us?” How perverse of you! Should the potter be accounted as the clay? Should what is made say of its Maker, “He did not make me,” And what is formed say of Him who formed it, “He did not understand?”
IV. Outline
1. Wish for Jerusalem
2-4. The siege of Jerusalem
5-8. The impotence of the enemy
9-14. God baffles the enemy’s leaders
9-10. Depriving the leaders of their senses
11-12. Example: reading a letter
13. Sin: the people serve God by rote
14. Punishment: the leaders lose their wisdom
15-16. Foolish beliefs
17-21. Prophecies
17. Clearing the forests of Lebanon
18. The deaf and blind will be cured
19. The lowly will be raised up
20-21. Evil men will perish
22-24. Oracle: A strong, holy, and enlightened future for Israel
V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.
VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. “Isaiah 1-39” The Anchor Bible vol. 19 (New York: Doubleday, 2000).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Sweeney, Marvin A. “Isaiah 1-39 with an Introduction to Prophetic Literature” The Forms of Old Testament Literature vol. 16 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1996).
Photo taken from http://www.braillewithoutborders.org/GERMAN/braille.jpg
