And he will become a sanctuary: For the people of Judah who turn to Yahweh the holy one he will be their sanctuary or safe place. There is a play-on-words here in Hebrew since the word for sanctuary (literally “holy place”) comes from the same root as the verb rendered “regard as holy” in the previous verse. Since the following nouns that describe Yahweh are negative, some scholars have suggested that sanctuary be changed to read “conspiracy” (as in verse 12) or “snare.” For this clause Revised English Bible has “He will become a snare” (similarly New American Bible). The roots of the words sanctuary, “conspiracy,” and “snare” are somewhat similar in Hebrew. But Hebrew Old Testament Text Project is firmly in favor of Masoretic Text as it stands, so it should not be changed. For the present Hebrew text to make good sense, we need to recognize that this verse moves from a positive description of Yahweh (a sanctuary) to negative ones. Bible en français courant (1997) does this smoothly for the first half of this verse with “he can be a place of refuge, but he can also be a stone against which people collide, the rock that makes people fall.”
And a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling: Both figures here carry a negative sense. These metaphors and the following ones express what Yahweh will become to those who do not “fear” him. Stone and rock are usually positive images for Yahweh (see, for example, 26.4; 1 Sam 2.2; 2 Sam 22.47; Psa 18.2). Here, however, they refer to objects that cause a person to stumble and fall since they are called a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling. So Yahweh as the rock and stone will cause people to fall. For these two metaphors New Jerusalem Bible has “a stumbling-stone, a rock to trip up,” and Revised English Bible says “an obstacle, and a rock against which … will strike and stumble.” In some languages it may be necessary to use similes here to keep the images of stone and rock; for example, “The LORD will be like a rock or stone that causes people to stumble.”
To both houses of Israel refers to the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. For the use of the word house, referring to a nation, see 5.7.
A trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Other passages that use both trap and snare are Josh 23.13 and Psa 69.22. These two nouns, used in combination, express forcefully what Yahweh will become to those who refuse to follow him. Isaiah uses four images to represent the dangers the people face. This is another example of where he has four similar expressions to emphasize a point. Since this is an important part of Isaiah’s style, it should be kept in translation if possible. However, translators may collapse two terms into one, if repetition of this type is not appropriate, or if only one word is available. The emphasis can be expressed in some other way. Good News Translation combines trap and snare, as well as stone and rock.
Strictly speaking, the trap and the snare only threaten the inhabitants of Jerusalem (literally “inhabitant of Jerusalem,” which is a collective reference to the whole population of Jerusalem). Although the prophet speaks of the people of Jerusalem rather than the people of both kingdoms, his focus is not only on Jerusalem. Jerusalem probably is parallel to both houses of Israel. This may explain the Good News Translation‘s rearrangement of the contents of this verse.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• Yahweh will be your sanctuary; but he will also be like a stone causing both houses of Israel to fall, like a rock making them stumble, a trap and snare to those in Jerusalem.
• Yahweh will become your holy place; but also he will be the stone or rock that causes Israel and Judah to fall, a trap to the people of Jerusalem.
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 .