Yesaya 1:10

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ¹ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ² 

people of Gomorrah!

Yesaya 24:4

24:4 The earth ³  dries up ⁴  and withers,

the world shrivels up and withers;

the prominent people of the earth ⁵  fade away.

Yesaya 25:3

25:3 So a strong nation will extol you;

the towns of ⁶  powerful nations will fear you.

Yesaya 25:11

25:11 Moab ⁷  will spread out its hands in the middle of it, ⁸ 

just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim;

the Lord ⁹  will bring down Moab’s ¹⁰  pride as it spreads its hands. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 30:9

30:9 For these are rebellious people –

they are lying children,

children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. ¹² 

Yesaya 34:5

34:5 He says, ¹³  “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. ¹⁴ 

Look, it now descends on Edom, ¹⁵ 

on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

Yesaya 34:7

34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered ¹⁶  along with them,

as well as strong bulls. ¹⁷ 

Their land is drenched with blood,

their soil is covered with fat.

Yesaya 42:6

42:6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you; ¹⁸ 

I take hold of your hand.

I protect you ¹⁹  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ²⁰ 

and a light ²¹  to the nations, ²² 

Yesaya 62:12

62:12 They will be called, “The Holy People,

the Ones Protected ²³  by the Lord.”

You will be called, “Sought After,

City Not Abandoned.”

[1:10]  ¹ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ² tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[24:4]  ³ tn Some prefer to read “land” here, but the word pair אֶרֶץ/תֵּבֵל (erets/tevel [see the corresponding term in the parallel line]) elsewhere clearly designates the earth/world (see 1 Sam 2:8; 1 Chr 16:30; Job 37;12; Pss 19:4; 24:1; 33:8; 89:11; 90:2; 96:13; 98:9; Prov 8:26, 31; Isa 14:16-17; 34:1; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Lam 4:12). According to L. Stadelmann, תבל designates “the habitable part of the world” (The Hebrew Conception of the World [AnBib], 130).

[24:4]  ⁴ tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists the homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism.

[24:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “the height of the people of the earth.” The translation assumes an emendation of the singular form מְרוֹם (mÿrom, “height of”) to the plural construct מְרֹמֵי (mÿrome, “high ones of”; note the plural verb at the beginning of the line), and understands the latter as referring to the prominent people of human society.

[25:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has a singular form, but it should be emended to a plural or eliminated altogether. The noun may have been accidentally copied from the preceding verse.

[25:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:11]  ⁸ tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is probably the masculine noun מַתְבֵּן (matben, “heap of straw”) in v. 10 rather than the feminine noun מַדְמֵנָה (madmenah, “manure pile”), also in v. 10.

[25:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:11]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has, “he will bring down his pride along with the [?] of his hands.” The meaning of אָרְבּוֹת (’arbot), which occurs only here in the OT, is unknown. Some (see BDB 70 s.v. אָרְבָּה) translate “artifice, cleverness,” relating the form to the verbal root אָרָב (’arav, “to lie in wait, ambush”), but this requires some convoluted semantic reasoning. HALOT 83 s.v. *אָרְבָּה suggests the meaning “[nimble] movements.” The translation above, which attempts to relate the form to the preceding context, is purely speculative.

[30:9]  ¹² tn Or perhaps, “instruction” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NCV, TEV “teachings.”

[34:5]  ¹³ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.

[34:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”

[34:5]  sn In v. 4 the “host of the heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13). As in 24:21, they are viewed here as opposing God and being defeated in battle.

[34:5]  ¹⁵ sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.

[34:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”

[34:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.

[42:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “call you in righteousness.” The pronoun “you” is masculine singular, referring to the servant. See the note at 41:2.

[42:6]  ¹⁹ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצַר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצַר (yatsar, “form”).

[42:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. The precise identity of עָם (’am, “people”) is uncertain. In v. 5 עָם refers to mankind, and the following reference to “nations” also favors this. But in 49:8, where the phrase בְּרִית עָם occurs again, Israel seems to be in view.

[42:6]  ²¹ sn Light here symbolizes deliverance from bondage and oppression; note the parallelism in 49:6b and in 51:4-6.

[42:6]  ²² tn Or “the Gentiles” (so KJV, ASV, NIV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context.

[62:12]  ²³ tn Or “the redeemed of the Lord” (KJV, NAB).