They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah …: Hezekiah’s delegation carries his message to Isaiah, which is given in verses 3-4. The pronoun They refers to the delegation and the pronoun him refers to Isaiah. Good News Translation renders him as “Isaiah” for clarity. It also renders Thus says Hezekiah as indirect speech, so that there is only one level of quotation here. Other languages may find these changes helpful. Since the delegation does not reach Isaiah until verse 5, Good News Translation begins this verse with “This is the message which he told them to give to Isaiah” (similarly Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant). However, Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew text here by saying the delegation spoke to Isaiah. Translators may follow either model.
This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace: Hezekiah begins with a comment expressed in very powerful language. It portrays the present moment (This day) as a time of great crisis for the nation. This day is a day of may be rendered “This is a time of” if the word day might be misunderstood as referring to a specific 24-hour period. Hezekiah uses three distinct nouns to characterize the critical situation of Jerusalem and the rest of Judah: distress, rebuke, and disgrace. In Hebrew these nouns are tsarah, tokechah, and neʾatsah, so there is assonance here with the “a” vowel. This helps to make it a stronger expression. Distress refers to the pain and anxiety felt by Hezekiah and his people because of the Assyrian assault. Rebuke points to the verbal attack on both Judah and Yahweh by the Assyrian ambassador (36.14-20). Revised English Bible says “reproof,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “chastisement.” New Jerusalem Bible suggests “punishment” (similarly Good News Translation), but this removes the idea of a verbal attack and makes it a physical one. Disgrace refers to the embarrassment felt by the people of Judah because of the ambassador’s mocking words. Good News Translation turns the nouns rebuke and disgrace into verbs that describe the nation’s feelings. For this whole clause Bible en français courant has “Today is for us a day of anguish, punishment, humiliation.”
Children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth: This appears to be a traditional saying, quoted by the king. In the Hebrew text it is introduced by the particle ki. This particle may introduce the saying as an explanation for the king’s feelings. If so, it may be rendered “for” or “because.” Alternatively, it may be an emphatic marker, which may be translated “Indeed” or “Truly.” Most English translations treat the saying as an independent quotation, ignoring the Hebrew particle.
Children have come to birth means children are close to being born. The Hebrew term rendered birth refers to an opening, in this case the opening of the womb (see also Hos 13.13). The connector and is better rendered “but” (Good News Translation) since it introduces something unexpected. The phrase translated there is no strength is a forceful one in Hebrew. The literal sense of the whole saying is that children are ready to be born but their mothers are not strong enough to give birth to them. Here it has a figurative meaning referring to the powerlessness of Judah to do anything in the face of the Assyrian aggression (see 26.17-18 for an earlier reference to birth as a figure for difficult circumstances). Good News Translation makes is clear that the saying is figurative by beginning with “We are like…,” which is a good model. Translators can add quote marks around the saying to indicate that it is a proverb, if this does not make the verse too complex with several levels of quotation (see the second and third examples below).
Translation examples for this verse are:
• They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says, ‘This is a time of distress, of reproof, and of disgrace [for us]. Indeed, we are like children who are ready to be born but there is no strength to give birth to them.
• They told him what Hezekiah had said, “This is a time of distress, reproof and disgrace for us. Truly, it is like the saying, ‘Children are ready to be born, but their mothers do not have enough strength to give them birth.’
• They told Isaiah that Hezekiah had said this was a distressing moment, one of rebuke and disgrace. He quoted the saying, “Children are about to be born, but there is no strength to give them birth.”
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 .