Verse 10 is a challenge for translators since it contains three textual problems. They concern the verb Overflow, the phrase like the Nile, and the noun restraint. These problems are addressed below. A decision for one is likely to affect the others. There are two major views concerning the meaning of this verse. According to one view, the people of Tarshish are told to spread out over their land or to cultivate it (instead of trading), because they no longer have a harbor. The other view is that the people of Tarshish are ordered to spread out over their land without any restraint. Translators may follow either one of these understandings.

Overflow your land like the Nile: The first textual problem in this verse involves the imperative verb Overflow. This verb renders the Hebrew verb ʿavar in Masoretic Text and one Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript. In this context it has the sense of passing through land. Another Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript has the Hebrew verb ʿavad, which means “to work.” Here it has the sense of cultivating land. Since the consonants “d” and “r” look very similar in Hebrew, copyists often confused them. Many scholars and most versions prefer the meaning of cultivating land; for example, Good News Translation has “Go and farm the land,” and New International Version says “Till your land” (similarly Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant). However, some versions retain the Masoretic Text reading like Revised Standard Version; for example, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Traverse your land” (similarly New American Bible). We agree with Hebrew Old Testament Text Project that Masoretic Text has the better reading here. This is supported by the use of the Hebrew verb ʿavar as a key verb in this oracle with the sense of “crossing over/through” (see verses 2, 6, 12). A footnote could then give the other possible reading: “Cultivate/farm your land….”

Like the Nile involves the second textual problem in this verse. This phrase occurs in Masoretic Text, but not the Septuagint. Good News Translation and Revised English Bible also omit it, but most versions keep it. We agree with Hebrew Old Testament Text Project that this phrase should not be deleted. Overflow your land like the Nile calls on the people of Tarshish to spread out throughout their land just as the Nile River overflows its banks and floods the surrounding countryside. If translators follow the alternative text for the verb here, then this line calls on the people to cultivate their land as farmers do along the Nile River.

O daughter of Tarshish: This is the addressee for the command in the previous line. As a result, the verb Overflow and the pronoun your are feminine singular forms in Hebrew. For Tarshish see Isa 23.1. For the figurative use of daughter here, see the comments on 1.8 and 10.30. Daughter of Tarshish probably refers to the people of Tarshish. Revised English Bible says “you people of Tarshish” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), and Good News Translation has “you people in the colonies in Spain.” Contemporary English Version says “People of Tyre” since it views these people of Tarshish as colonists from Tyre (similarly Bible en français courant).

There is no restraint any more: This line has the third textual problem in the verse. It gives the motivation for the command in the first line, but its meaning is unclear because of the Hebrew noun mezach rendered restraint. This noun is literally “girdle/belt.” In this context a literal meaning does not seem to make much sense. Scholars have proposed several possible solutions: (1) retain the Hebrew noun and interpret it figuratively to mean “restriction” or “limitation” (so Revised Standard Version, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project); (2) change the noun from mezach to machoz, which means “harbor” (so New International Version and most other versions); or (3) follow the Septuagint for the whole line, which reads “for ships no longer depart from Carthage.” Those versions preferring “harbor” do so because they believe that the order to spread throughout the land or to cultivate it comes as a consequence of there being no harbor. Which harbor? This could refer to the destruction of Tyre’s famous harbor, or to the uselessness of the harbor of Tarshish (after Tyre is destroyed). Options 1 and 2 are the best ones. Even though there are not many versions that have the sense of “restriction,” it does have the support of Masoretic Text. If translators accept this first option, then it will better in the first line to express the meaning of passing through the land rather than cultivating it. The first two examples below reflect this decision.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Go throughout your land, you people of Tarshish; overflow it like the Nile River. There is no longer any limit!

• People of Tarshish, travel across your territory like the Nile River when it overflows its banks. No longer are you bound!

• Go and cultivate your land like the farmers along the Nile River, you people of Tarshish/Spain! Your harbor is no more!

There should also be a footnote indicating that the Hebrew text is difficult, so the translation is uncertain.

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 .