The prophet continues with his vision of the future in which his people will enjoy relief from oppression by a foreign power.

You will see no more the insolent people refers to the removal of Judah’s oppressors from their sight. They will be expelled. You will see no more does not mean that the people of Judah would become blind. The key verb see occurs here in the negative. So there is a contrast between what the people will see (verse 17) and what they will not see. In verse 20 the prophet returns to a description of what the people will see. The Hebrew word rendered insolent occurs only here in the Old Testament, so its meaning is uncertain. There are two possible roots for it, so it could mean “barbaric” (so Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “arrogant” (so RSV/NRSV, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible). The prophet is describing an enemy here, so he is not using a very complimentary term. Since there is a lack of agreement about the meaning of this term, translators are free to choose either sense.

The people of an obscure speech which you cannot comprehend: Compare 28.11. The oppressors speak a language that the people of Judah cannot understand. The Hebrew adjective rendered obscure comes from a root meaning “something that is very deep,” and so it refers to something that is “incomprehensible.” For obscure speech, New Jerusalem Bible has “unintelligible speech.” We could even say “strange language.” Which you cannot comprehend is literally “from hearing [it].” Revised Standard Version expresses it in natural English, using the following synonymous line as a model.

Stammering in a tongue which you cannot understand: Stammering refers to a way of speaking that is hesitant and stuttering. However, the Hebrew term used here seems to point more to making fun of something, so stammering in a tongue may be rendered “a funny/amusing language.” Since this is the only place where the particular Hebrew form of this word occurs, it is difficult to determine its meaning. Translators may well decide to follow a traditional rendering. Which you cannot understand is literally “there is no understanding.” This could mean that the people who speak the language don’t know what they are talking about, as well as meaning that nobody else understands what these people are saying. It is an ambiguous statement. New American Bible preserves the ambiguity by rendering the whole line as “stammering in a language not understood.” If possible, translators should preserve the ambiguity. But most translations have understood the clause to mean that the people of Judah do not understand the language of their oppressors.

Good News Translation combines the last two lines, but we do not recommend this, unless there is no other way to handle the repetition here.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• You will no longer see those barbaric people,
a people whose odd language is unintelligible,
whose funny speech nobody comprehends.

• You will never see those barbaric people again,
a people whose strange language cannot be understood,
whose funny speech nobody understands.

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 .