Isaiah 57:1 New English Translation
57 The godly[a] perish,
but no one cares.[b]
Honest people disappear,[c]
when no one[d] minds[e]
that the godly[f] disappear[g] because of[h] evil.[i]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 57:1 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”
- Isaiah 57:1 tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”
- Isaiah 57:1 tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (ʾasaf) here means “to die.”
- Isaiah 57:1 tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (beʾen) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11; 14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.
- Isaiah 57:1 tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 57:1 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”
- Isaiah 57:1 tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (ʾasaf) here means “to die.”
- Isaiah 57:1 tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippene, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (ʾasaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַםִ מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (ʾasher-neʾespu ʾel-yerushalaim mippene shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).
- Isaiah 57:1 tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.