Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ¹ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ² 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ³  rises like the River Nile, ⁴ 

and then grows calm ⁵  like the Nile in Egypt. ⁶ 

Yesaya 8:7-8

8:7 So look, the sovereign master ⁷  is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River ⁸  – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. ⁹  8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, ¹⁰  O Immanuel.” ¹¹ 

Yeremia 46:8

46:8 Egypt rises like the Nile,

like its streams turbulent at flood stage.

Egypt says, ‘I will arise and cover the earth.

I will destroy cities and the people who inhabit them.’

Daniel 9:26

9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,

an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. ¹² 

As for the city and the sanctuary,

the people of the coming prince will destroy ¹³  them.

But his end will come speedily ¹⁴  like a flood. ¹⁵ 

Until the end of the war that has been decreed

there will be destruction.

[9:5]  ¹ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ² tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ³ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ⁵ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ⁶ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.

[8:7]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[8:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the mighty and abundant waters of the river.” The referent of “the river” here, the Euphrates River, has been specified in the translation for clarity. As the immediately following words indicate, these waters symbolize the Assyrian king and his armies which will, as it were, inundate the land.

[8:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “it will go up over all its stream beds and go over all its banks.”

[8:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.

[8:8]  ¹¹ sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

[9:26]  ¹² sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.

[9:26]  ¹³ tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”

[9:26]  ¹⁴ tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[9:26]  ¹⁵ sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.