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Isaiah 44:4-6
New English Translation
Isaiah 44:4-6
New English Translation
4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,[a]
like poplars beside channels of water.
5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use[b] the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’”[c]
The Absurdity of Idolatry
6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,
their Protector,[d] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:
“I am the first and I am the last,
there is no God but me.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 44:4 tn The Hebrew term בֵין (ven) is usually taken as a preposition, in which case one might translate, “among the grass.” But בֵין is probably the name of a tree (cf. C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 133). If one alters the preposition bet (בְּ) to kaf (כְּ), one can then read, “like a binu-tree.” (The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supports this reading.) This forms a nice parallel to “like poplars” in the next line. חָצִיר (khatsir) is functioning as an adverbial accusative of location.
- Isaiah 44:5 tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”
- Isaiah 44:5 tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”
- Isaiah 44:6 tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
New English Translation (NET)
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