Verses 15-18 have two stanzas that are similar in structure: verses 15-16 and 17-18. Each stanza begins with the Hebrew preposition tachat, which can mean “under,” but here it means “in place of / instead of.” Revised Standard Version renders it Whereas in verse 15 and “Instead of” in verse 17. In both stanzas it introduces a former situation that will be replaced or reversed. It is used four times in verse 17. The focus throughout verses 15-18 is on what Yahweh will do for his people by restoring to them what they have lost. There are links to the rest of the subsection with the repetition of “nations” and “kings” in verse 16, and “gold” and “silver” in verse 17. Figurative language is prominent.

Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through describes Judah’s former situation. New International Version renders the Hebrew preposition for Whereas as “Although,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “Instead of.” However, using such expressions results in one, fairly long sentence for the whole verse, and some translators may prefer to present the content in several shorter ones. Good News Translation provides a model with two sentences (see also the first example below).

You have been forsaken and hated could refer to Yahweh’s attitude toward the people of Judah because of their sins. If so, this line recalls 50.1 and 54.6-7 where God uses divorce imagery to picture how he has abandoned his people. The Hebrew verb rendered hated is a technical term used for a wife who has been rejected by her husband. Revised English Bible specifies that the implied analogy is with a wife who has been abandoned by rendering these two lines as “No longer will you be deserted, like a wife hated and neglected.” However, most versions understand the first line to refer to the attitude of others toward the people of Judah, because the second line supports this interpretation. With no one passing through is literally “and there is no one passing through/by.” This line obviously refers to people ignoring Judah. According to one commentator, it means that since the time Jerusalem was destroyed about 70 years earlier, nobody had bothered with Judah. New Jerusalem Bible says “avoided by everyone.” The Hebrew expression here is clearly idiomatic for a place that has been abandoned and ignored by all (compare 34.10). It can hardly mean that no one used the major trade routes that passed through the land. According to most versions, the first two lines of this verse mean that Judah was abandoned and hated, as well as avoided by everyone, by every nation in the region. Bible en français courant this sense clearly with “You were abandoned, nobody loved you, nobody passed by to see/visit you.”

I will make you majestic for ever, a joy from age to age begins to describe the new situation that God promises in the rest of this section. I will make you majestic for ever is literally “I will put you for majesty eternal.” In this context the Hebrew verb rendered make means to appoint someone to a position. Here it is a majestic/honored position. The Hebrew term for majestic is used in 2.10 for Yahweh’s glory. Now God promises that same glorious honor to his people. Their new, glorified position will not be a momentary one, but for ever.

A joy from age to age is parallel to the previous line. The verb phrase I will make you is implied here, so this line means God will give his people unending joy. For the Hebrew noun rendered joy, see the comments on 24.8 and 11, where it is translated “mirth” and “gladness” respectively. From age to age is literally “generation and generation” (see the comments on 34.10). God’s people will have something to celebrate from one generation to the next, that is, for ever. Good News Translation combines the parallel expressions for ever and from age to age into “forever and ever.” This may be a helpful model for other languages.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Once you were forsaken and rejected,
with nobody caring about what happened to you.
But I will give you a majestic future that will last forever,
you will have never-ending joy.

• Although you have been abandoned and hated,
with nobody passing through,
now I will give you an eternal majesty,
with joy throughout the generations.

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 .