Today's reading is the end of one oracle and the beginning of another; the oracle of Moab ends in wailing and a plea for the people of Judah to "be a refuge to them from the destroyer" (16:4) and the oracle about the destruction of Damascus begins telling how the people of God will turn to him in their anguish, and then breaks into a passage on how the "roar of nations" is like the "whirling dust before the storm" (17:13).
Reading these passages is a bit draining. There's an overwhelming grief, power of destruction, and mass suffering that even at such a distance as I am from these events takes the bounce out of my step and quiets my humming. I would have hated translating this, I think.
This is a bit of an odd reading, today, as it straddles two subjects and changes perspectives quite a bit, so to join the two passages I will observe that amid the chaos and thunder it is maybe not comforting, but hopeful that our God is the God of our salvation and should be the Rock of our refuge (17:10).
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Instead of whirling dust, my translation gives tumbleweed for some reason. I can picture both from living in the Mojave Desert. Dust really did whirl in miniature cyclones that slammed against the window, or if you were very unfortunate, against you. Getting hit by one was a bit like getting sandpapered. It only lasted half a minute, but there was never any doubt as to who had won the round! And tumbleweed really does "tumble" at an impressive speed, but still somehow aimlessly. It's desolate and empty, which I guess is the imagery Isaiah is going for. Without God, there really is nothing. Just barren, windswept land void of people and their creations. When faced with that, some people will finally turn away from the works of their hands, their idols, and all the other things that turned out to be impermanent.
Tumbleweed? Very interesting! I looked up some parallel translations but none of them fit yours--what version do you use, again?
I've never experienced that; thanks for sharing! The footnotes in my text say that this passage may hark back to the world being formless and empty at the creation. Rushing waters, dry dust, etc.
It's the New American Bible, and it's quite an old edition - probably out of print. While I'm not sure I'd start memorizing it, given the unity of other translations, it is interesting at times just to jog your thinking.
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