Yesaya 1:20

1:20 But if you refuse and rebel,

you will be devoured ¹  by the sword.”

Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. ² 

Yesaya 14:4

14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ³ 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ⁴  has ceased!

Yesaya 15:7

15:7 For this reason what they have made and stored up,

they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.

Yesaya 16:11

16:11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, ⁵ 

my inner being sighs ⁶  for Kir Hareseth. ⁷ 

Yesaya 30:7

30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ⁸ 

For this reason I call her

‘Proud one ⁹  who is silenced.’” ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 51:14

51:14 The one who suffers ¹¹  will soon be released;

he will not die in prison, ¹² 

he will not go hungry. ¹³ 

[1:20]  ¹ sn The wordplay in the Hebrew draws attention to the options. The people can obey, in which case they will “eat” v. 19 (תֹּאכֵלוּ [to’khelu], Qal active participle of אָכַל) God’s blessing, or they can disobey, in which case they will be devoured (Heb “eaten,” תְּאֻכְּלוּ, [tÿ’ukkÿlu], Qal passive/Pual of אָכַל) by God’s judgment.

[1:20]  ² tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The introductory כִּי (ki) may be asseverative (as reflected in the translation) or causal/explanatory, explaining why the option chosen by the people will become reality (it is guaranteed by the divine word).

[14:4]  ³ tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ⁴ tc The word in the Hebrew text (מַדְהֵבָה, madhevah) is unattested elsewhere and of uncertain meaning. Many (following the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) assume a dalet-resh (ד-ר) confusion and emend the form to מַרְהֵבָה (marhevah, “onslaught”). See HALOT 548 s.v. II *מִדָּה and HALOT 633 s.v. *מַרְהֵבָה.

[16:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “so my intestines sigh for Moab like a harp.” The word מֵעַי (me’ay, “intestines”) is used here of the seat of the emotions. English idiom requires the word “heart.” The point of the comparison to a harp is not entirely clear. Perhaps his sighs of mourning resemble a harp in sound, or his constant sighing is like the repetitive strumming of a harp.

[16:11]  ⁶ tn The verb is supplied in the translation; “sighs” in the preceding line does double duty in the parallel structure.

[16:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Kir Heres” (so ASV, NRSV, TEV, CEV), a variant name for “Kir Hareseth” (see v. 7).

[30:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”

[30:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “Rahab” (רַהַב, rahav), which also appears as a name for Egypt in Ps 87:4. The epithet is also used in the OT for a mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos. See the note at 51:9. A number of English versions use the name “Rahab” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) while others attempt some sort of translation (cf. CEV “a helpless monster”; TEV, NLT “the Harmless Dragon”).

[30:7]  ¹⁰ tn The MT reads “Rahab, they, sitting.” The translation above assumes an emendation of הֵם שָׁבֶת (hem shavet) to הַמָּשְׁבָּת (hammashbat), a Hophal participle with prefixed definite article, meaning “the one who is made to cease,” i.e., “destroyed,” or “silenced.” See HALOT 444-45 s.v. ישׁב.

[51:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who is stooped over” (under a burden).

[51:14]  ¹² tn Heb “the pit” (so KJV); ASV, NAB “die and go down into the pit”; NASB, NIV “dungeon”; NCV “prison.”

[51:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “he will not lack his bread.”