The people did not turn to him who smote them: There is a play on words here in Hebrew with the previous verse. “Is not turned away” in verse 12 and did not turn render the same Hebrew words. Although the wording is the same, the verb for turn carries two different contextual meanings. In verse 12 “is not turned away” describes the unending anger of God (Good News Translation), while did not turn means the people did not repent (so Good News Translation) or turn to Yahweh for help.

Yahweh is described as him who smote them. Although the punishment was in the form of an enemy invasion, the prophet speaks of it as Yahweh’s act. The verb smote is the past tense of “smite,” an old English verb meaning “beat/hit/strike.”

Nor seek the LORD of hosts is parallel to did not turn to him. Nor seek does not mean the people refused to go looking for Yahweh as though he needed to be found. Rather, the verb describes a lifestyle of not following the LORD’s rule. They decided not to live in relationship with him. For the LORD of hosts, see the comments at 1.9.

Translators will need to consider the demands of good style in their language when translating the parallel lines of this verse. Good News Translation reflects English well by first saying “LORD Almighty” and then using the pronoun “him.” However, Good News Translation does not follow clause relationships of the Hebrew. Better translation models for this verse are:

• The people failed to turn back to Yahweh of hosts who struck them, nor did they follow him.

• The people neither turned to Yahweh of hosts, the one who punished them, nor did they repent.

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 .