The people who make linen cloth will also suffer when the Nile dries up because flax will no longer be available.

The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton is literally “They will be in despair workers of flax, carders, and those who weave white cloth.” Masoretic Text has three subjects here, but Revised Standard Version only has two subjects since it understands the Hebrew noun for “carders” to be an adjective, which it renders combed. “Carders” are people who comb strands of flax or cotton to separate them in preparation for weaving. If there are three subjects here, “workers in flax” is a general expression for those who make linen cloth, while “carders” and “weavers” are the two specific groups involved in making it. In Hebrew the word for “carders” is feminine while the one for “weavers” is masculine. Some versions express this; for example, Revised English Bible says “the women carding and the men weaving” (similarly Bible en français courant). Versions with three subjects for this verse are New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh. New International Version and New Jerusalem Bible have only two subjects, as in Revised Standard Version. We recommend three subjects, but translators may use only two.

Flax is a plant that releases fibers when treated. These fibers can be woven into a fine fabric called linen (see 3.23). In many languages flax may be rendered “cotton,” another plant product used for weaving cloth. However, cotton does not grow along rivers like flax.

The Hebrew verb rendered be in despair is usually translated “be ashamed,” but here it means “be very sad.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “be dismayed,” and Revised English Bible has “be dejected.”

Instead of white cotton, a Dead Sea Scrolls text says “become pale.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, commentators, and most translations follow this text, which we recommend. In this context “becoming pale” conveys how anxious or sad the linen cloth makers are because of the failure of the crops and the collapse of their trade. Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch use “become pale” but add the reason, “because of worries.” Another possibility is “become pale because of grief.” In many cultures, however, the figurative verb “become pale” will not be meaningful. Other possibilities are “become anxious” and “lose hope” (New International Version).

Good News Translation avoids all the problems that this verse presents by combining the contents into one short prose line: “Those who make linen cloth will be in despair.” This may be a useful model for languages where a technical vocabulary that distinguishes flax carding and weaving is not available.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Those who work with flax will be in despair,
the women who comb [the threads] and the men who weave [them] will be anxious.

• Flax workers will be despondent,
carders and weavers will despair.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .