In verses 15-16 the prophet assures the people that Yahweh will permit them to dwell in his sanctuary, provided they keep the Law’s requirements. Verse 15 has a series of six participles, each describing the person who is worthy to “dwell on the heights” (verse 16), which means to enter God’s Temple. The participles are rendered as active verbs in Revised Standard Version: walks, speaks, despises, shakes, stops, and shuts. The Hebrew forms of these participles are in the singular, but they describe all people who obey God. Translators can use plural forms if necessary.
He who walks righteously is the first requirement, just as in Psa 15.2. The verb walks is a common metaphor for a person’s manner of living (see 2.3, 5). To walk righteously means to live a life of obedience (see 1.21; 11.5).
And speaks uprightly is the second requirement, which is the third one in Psa 15.2. When people speak, they should always say what is correct. Uprightly is literally “straight” (see 26.7, where the Hebrew word here is rendered “level”). It may be rendered “honestly.”
Who despises the gain of oppressions is the third requirement. People should refuse to use oppressive means to gain something for themselves. They should not cheat others for personal gain. New Jerusalem Bible says “who scorns to get rich by extortion.” For despises see Isa 33.8 and 30.12.
The last three requirements refer to three body parts—hands, ears and eyes.
Who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe is literally “who shakes his hands from holding a bribe,” so it is parallel in form with the next two lines. This line describes people who refuse to accept bribes. Bribes may even be placed in their hands, but they immediately drop them. New Revised Standard Version says “who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), and Bible en français courant has “[who] pushes away those who try to buy him with presents.” For bribe see 1.23.
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed: This does not simply mean refusing to listen about someone committing murder, but refusing to listen to plans involving murder (so New Jerusalem Bible). The Hebrew word for bloodshed usually refers to murder, as it does here (see the comments on 1.15, where the same word is translated “blood”). For the whole line Bible en français courant has “[who] closes his ears to those who suggest a murder to him.”
And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil: This does not mean turning a blind eye to evil (that is, ignoring evil), but refusing to participate in evil. Bible en français courant says “and who does not look on evil with any favor at all.”
Verses 15-16a are one long sentence in Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation divides it into several shorter sentences, which may be helpful in other languages. Good News Translation also clearly links the response in verse 15 with the questions in verse 14. Verse 14 asked: “Can any of us survive…?” Verse 15 provides the answer using second person pronouns: “You can survive if….” The same question-answer structure underlies Revised Standard Version, but the link between verses 14 and 15 is not evident. Translators could keep the link between these two verses with short sentences in the third person plural by rendering verse 15 as follows: “People can survive if they walk righteously. They should speak uprightly. They….” Other translation examples for this verse are:
• They are those who are righteous,
who speak honestly,
who despise dishonest gain,
who refuse to accept a bribe,
who will not participate in violence,
and who reject evil.
• They are those who live according to justice,
whose speech is honest,
who despise taking advantage of others,
whose hands will not accept a bribe,
whose ears will not listen to plans of violence,
and whose eyes will not countenance [or, agree to doing] evil.
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 .