7:1 During 1 the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel marched up to Jerusalem 2 to do battle, but they were unable to prevail against it. 3
19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; 4
Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.
How dare you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one of the sages,
one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?” 5
28:2 Look, the sovereign master 6 sends a strong, powerful one. 7
With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, 8
with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, 9
he will knock that crown 10 to the ground with his hand. 11
36:11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, 12 for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect 13 in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
57:11 Whom are you worried about?
Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully
and not remember me
or think about me? 14
Because I have been silent for so long, 15
you are not afraid of me. 16
1 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
2 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
3 tn Or perhaps, “but they were unable to attack it.” This statement sounds like a summary of the whole campaign. The following context explains why they were unable to defeat the southern kingdom. The parallel passage (2 Kgs 16:5; cf. Num 22:11; 1 Sam 17:9 for a similar construction) affirms that Syria and Israel besieged Ahaz. Consequently, the statement that “they were not able to battle against them” must refer to the inability to conquer Ahaz.
4 tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”
5 tn Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See HALOT 138 s.v. בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:371. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.
6 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
7 tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”
8 tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”
9 tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”
10 tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.
11 tn Or “by [his] power.”
12 sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Assyrian empire.
13 tn Or “in Hebrew” (NIV, NCV, NLT); NAB, NASB “in Judean.”
14 tn Heb “you do not place [it] on your heart.”
15 tn Heb “Is it not [because] I have been silent, and from long ago?”
16 sn God’s patience with sinful Israel has caused them to think that they can sin with impunity and suffer no consequences.