Yesaya 10:8

10:8 Indeed, ¹  he says:

“Are not my officials all kings?

Yesaya 10:16-19

10:16 For this reason ²  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ³  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ⁴ 

10:17 The light of Israel ⁵  will become a fire,

their Holy One ⁶  will become a flame;

it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s ⁷  briers

and his thorns in one day.

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed, ⁸ 

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ⁹ 

10:19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,

a child will be able to count them. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 10:33-34

10:33 Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,

is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. ¹¹ 

The tallest trees ¹²  will be cut down,

the loftiest ones will be brought low.

10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,

and mighty Lebanon will fall. ¹³ 

Yesaya 17:12-14

17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, ¹⁴ 

those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. ¹⁵ 

The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, ¹⁶ 

those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. ¹⁷ 

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ¹⁸ 

when he shouts at ¹⁹  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ²⁰  before a strong gale.

17:14 In the evening there is sudden terror; ²¹ 

by morning they vanish. ²² 

This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,

the destiny of those who try to loot us! ²³ 

Yesaya 29:5-8

29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,

the horde of tyrants ²⁴  like chaff that is blown away.

It will happen suddenly, in a flash.

29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, ²⁵ 

accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,

by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

29:7 It will be like a dream, a night vision.

There will be a horde from all the nations that fight against Ariel,

those who attack her and her stronghold and besiege her.

29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,

only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ²⁶ 

It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,

only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ²⁷ 

So it will be for the horde from all the nations

that fight against Mount Zion.

Yesaya 30:30-33

30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout ²⁸ 

and intervene in power, ²⁹ 

with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ³⁰ 

with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

30:31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria; ³¹ 

he will beat them with a club.

30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel, ³² 

with which the Lord will beat them, ³³ 

will be accompanied by music from the ³⁴  tambourine and harp,

and he will attack them with his weapons. ³⁵ 

30:33 For ³⁶  the burial place is already prepared; ³⁷ 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ³⁸ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ³⁹ 

The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,

will ignite it.

Yesaya 33:10-12

33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.

“Now I will exalt myself;

now I will magnify myself. ⁴⁰ 

33:11 You conceive straw, ⁴¹ 

you give birth to chaff;

your breath is a fire that destroys you. ⁴² 

33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes; ⁴³ 

like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.

Yesaya 36:9

36:9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. ⁴⁴ 

Wahyu 6:15-16

6:15 Then ⁴⁵  the kings of the earth, the ⁴⁶  very important people, the generals, ⁴⁷  the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave ⁴⁸  and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 6:16 They ⁴⁹  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ⁵⁰ 

Wahyu 19:17-18

19:17 Then ⁵¹  I saw one angel standing in ⁵²  the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: ⁵³ 

“Come, gather around for the great banquet ⁵⁴  of God,

19:18 to eat ⁵⁵  your fill ⁵⁶  of the flesh of kings,

the flesh of generals, ⁵⁷ 

the flesh of powerful people,

the flesh of horses and those who ride them,

and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, ⁵⁸ 

and small and great!”

[10:8]  ¹ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[10:16]  ² sn The irrational arrogance of the Assyrians (v. 15) will prompt the judgment about to be described.

[10:16]  ³ tn Heb “will send leanness against his healthy ones”; NASB, NIV “will send a wasting disease.”

[10:16]  ⁴ tc Heb “and in the place of his glory burning will burn, like the burning of fire.” The highly repetitive text (יֵקַד יְקֹד כִּיקוֹד אֵשׁ, yeqad yiqod kiqod ’esh) may be dittographic; if the second consonantal sequence יקד is omitted, the text would read “and in the place of his glory, it will burn like the burning of fire.”

[10:17]  ⁵ tn In this context the “Light of Israel” is a divine title (note the parallel title “his holy one”). The title points to God’s royal splendor, which overshadows and, when transformed into fire, destroys the “majestic glory” of the king of Assyria (v. 16b).

[10:17]  ⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “his.” In vv. 17-19 the Assyrian king and his empire is compared to a great forest and orchard that are destroyed by fire (symbolic of the Lord).

[10:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “from breath to flesh it will destroy.” The expression “from breath to flesh” refers to the two basic components of a person, the immaterial (life’s breath) and the material (flesh). Here the phrase is used idiomatically to indicate totality.

[10:18]  ⁹ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. מָסַס (masas), which is used elsewhere of substances dissolving or melting, may here mean “waste away” or “despair.” נָסַס (nasas), which appears only here, may mean “be sick” or “stagger, despair.” See BDB 651 s.v. I נָסַס and HALOT 703 s.v. I נסס. One might translate the line literally, “like the wasting away of one who is sick” (cf. NRSV “as when an invalid wastes away”).

[10:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the rest of the trees of his forest will be counted, and a child will record them.”

[10:33]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text reads “with terrifying power,” or “with a crash.” מַעֲרָצָה (ma’aratsah, “terrifying power” or “crash”) occurs only here. Several have suggested an emendation to מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad, “ax”) parallel to “ax” in v. 34; see HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:448.

[10:33]  sn As in vv. 12 (see the note there) and 18, the Assyrians are compared to a tree/forest in vv. 33-34.

[10:33]  ¹² tn Heb “the exalted of the height.” This could refer to the highest branches (cf. TEV) or the tallest trees (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[10:34]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text has, “and Lebanon, by/as [?] a mighty one, will fall.” The translation above takes the preposition בְּ (bet) prefixed to “mighty one” as indicating identity, “Lebanon, as a mighty one, will fall.” In this case “mighty one” describes Lebanon. (In Ezek 17:23 and Zech 11:2 the adjective is used of Lebanon’s cedars.) Another option is to take the preposition as indicating agency and interpret “mighty one” as a divine title (see Isa 33:21). One could then translate, “and Lebanon will fall by [the agency of] the Mighty One.”

[17:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[17:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”

[17:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.

[17:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”

[17:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ¹⁹ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ²⁰ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[17:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “at the time of evening, look, sudden terror.”

[17:14]  ²² tn Heb “before morning he is not.”

[17:14]  ²³ tn Heb “this is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who loot us.”

[29:5]  ²⁴ tn Or “violent men”; cf. NASB “the ruthless ones.”

[29:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] there will be visitation.” The third feminine singular passive verb form תִּפָּקֵד (tippaqed, “she/it will be visited”) is used here in an impersonal sense. See GKC 459 §144.b.

[29:8]  ²⁶ tn Or “that he [or “his appetite”] is unsatisfied.”

[29:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “that he is faint and that he [or “his appetite”] longs [for water].”

[30:30]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[30:31]  ³¹ tn Heb “Indeed by the voice of the Lord Assyria will be shattered.”

[30:32]  ³² tc The Hebrew text has “every blow from a founded [i.e., “appointed”?] cudgel.” The translation above, with support from a few medieval Hebrew mss, assumes an emendation of מוּסָדָה (musadah, “founded”) to מוּסָרֹה (musaroh, “his discipline”).

[30:32]  ³³ tn Heb “which the Lord lays on him.”

[30:32]  ³⁴ tn Heb “will be with” (KJV similar).

[30:32]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and with battles of brandishing [weapons?] he will fight against him.” Some prefer to emend וּבְמִלְחֲמוֹת (uvÿmilkhamot, “and with battles of”) to וּבִמְחֹלוֹת (uvimkholot, “and with dancing”). Note the immediately preceding references to musical instruments.

[30:33]  ³⁶ tn Or “indeed.”

[30:33]  ³⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).

[30:33]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”

[30:33]  ³⁹ tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”

[30:33]  sn Apparently this alludes to some type of funeral rite.

[33:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”

[33:11]  ⁴¹ tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.

[33:11]  ⁴² sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.

[33:12]  ⁴³ tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.

[36:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”

[6:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[6:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated; nor is it translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “chiliarchs.” A chiliarch was normally a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[6:15]  ⁴⁸ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[6:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:16]  ⁵⁰ tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[19:17]  ⁵¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:17]  ⁵² tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.

[19:17]  ⁵³ tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.

[19:17]  ⁵⁴ tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.

[19:18]  ⁵⁵ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.

[19:18]  ⁵⁶ tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.

[19:18]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “chiliarchs”; normally a chiliarch was a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[19:18]  ⁵⁸ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.