Yesaya 1:8

1:8 Daughter Zion ¹  is left isolated,

like a hut in a vineyard,

or a shelter in a cucumber field;

she is a besieged city. ² 

Yesaya 1:10

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ³ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ⁴ 

people of Gomorrah!

Yesaya 3:18

3:18 ⁵ At that time ⁶  the sovereign master will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry, ⁷  neck ornaments, crescent shaped ornaments,

Yesaya 7:6

7:6 They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ⁸  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ⁹ 

Yesaya 8:6

8:6 “These people ¹⁰  have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah ¹¹  and melt in fear over Rezin and the son of Remaliah. ¹² 

Yesaya 16:1

16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, ¹³ 

from Sela in the desert ¹⁴ 

to the hill of Daughter Zion.

Yesaya 25:10

25:10 For the Lord’s power will make this mountain secure. ¹⁵ 

Moab will be trampled down where it stands, ¹⁶ 

as a heap of straw is trampled down in ¹⁷  a manure pile.

Yesaya 29:3

29:3 I will lay siege to you on all sides; ¹⁸ 

I will besiege you with troops; ¹⁹ 

I will raise siege works against you.

Yesaya 36:21

36:21 They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

Yesaya 37:35

37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” ²⁰ 

Yesaya 38:6

38:6 and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city.”’”

Yesaya 59:20

59:20 “A protector ²¹  comes to Zion,

to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,” ²²  says the Lord.

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.”

Yesaya 63:18

63:18 For a short time your special ²⁴  nation possessed a land, ²⁵ 

but then our adversaries knocked down ²⁶  your holy sanctuary.

Yesaya 66:11

66:11 For ²⁷  you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; ²⁸ 

you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. ²⁹ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “daughter of Zion” (so KJV, NASB, NIV). The genitive is appositional, identifying precisely which daughter is in view. By picturing Zion as a daughter, the prophet emphasizes her helplessness and vulnerability before the enemy.

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “like a city besieged.” Unlike the preceding two comparisons, which are purely metaphorical, this third one identifies the reality of Israel’s condition. In this case the comparative preposition, as in v. 7b, has the force, “in every way like,” indicating that all the earmarks of a siege are visible because that is indeed what is taking place. The verb form in MT is Qal passive participle of נָצַר (natsar, “guard”), but since this verb is not often used of a siege (see BDB 666 s.v. I נָצַר), some prefer to repoint the form as a Niphal participle from II צוּר (tsur, “besiege”). However, the latter is not attested elsewhere in the Niphal (see BDB 848 s.v. II צוּר).

[1:10]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[3:18]  ⁵ sn The translation assumes that the direct quotation ends with v. 17. The introductory formula “in that day” and the shift from a poetic to prosaic style indicate that a new speech unit begins in v. 18.

[3:18]  ⁶ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[3:18]  ⁷ tn Or “the beauty of [their] ankle jewelry.”

[7:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and let us break it open for ourselves”; NASB “make for ourselves a breach in its walls”; NLT “fight our way into.”

[7:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “and we will make the son of Tabeel king in its midst.”

[7:6]  sn The precise identity of this would-be puppet king is unknown. He may have been a Syrian official or the ruler of one of the small neighboring states. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 370.

[8:6]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text begins with “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 6-7 are one long sentence, with v. 6 giving the reason for judgment and v. 7 formally announcing it.

[8:6]  ¹¹ sn The phrase “waters of Shiloah” probably refers to a stream that originated at the Gihon Spring and supplied the city of Jerusalem with water. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:225. In this context these waters stand in contrast to the flood waters of Assyria and symbolize God’s presence and blessings.

[8:6]  ¹² tn The precise meaning of v. 6 has been debated. The translation above assumes that “these people” are the residents of Judah and that מָשׂוֹשׂ (masos) is alternate form of מָסוֹס (masos, “despair, melt”; see HALOT 606 s.v. מסס). In this case vv. 7-8 in their entirety announce God’s disciplinary judgment on Judah. However, “these people” could refer to the Israelites and perhaps also the Syrians (cf v. 4). In this case מָשׂוֹשׂ probably means “joy.” One could translate, “and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah.” In this case v. 7a announces the judgment of Israel, with vv. 7b-8 then shifting the focus to the judgment of Judah.

[16:1]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Send [a plural imperatival form is used] a ram [to] the ruler of the land.” The term כַּר (kar, “ram”) should be emended to the plural כָּרִים (karim). The singular form in the text is probably the result of haplography; note that the next word begins with a mem (מ).

[16:1]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text has “toward [across?] the desert.”

[25:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain”; TEV “will protect Mount Zion”; NCV “will protect (rest on NLT) Jerusalem.”

[25:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “under him,” i.e., “in his place.”

[25:10]  ¹⁷ tc The marginal reading (Qere) is בְּמוֹ (bÿmo, “in”). The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּמִי (bÿmi, “in the water of”).

[29:3]  ¹⁸ tc The Hebrew text has כַדּוּר (khadur, “like a circle”), i.e., “like an encircling wall.” Some emend this phrase to כְּדָוִד (kÿdavid, “like David”), which is supported by the LXX (see v. 1). However, the rendering in the LXX could have arisen from a confusion of the dalet (ד) and resh (ר).

[29:3]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of מֻצָּב (mutsav) is not certain. Because of the parallelism (note “siege works”), some translate “towers.” The noun is derived from נָצַב (natsav, “take one’s stand”) and may refer to the troops stationed outside the city to prevent entrance or departure.

[37:35]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

[59:20]  ²¹ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[59:20]  ²² tn Heb “and to those who turn from rebellion in Jacob.”

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

[63:18]  ²⁴ tn Or “holy” (ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[63:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for a short time they had a possession, the people of your holiness.”

[63:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “your adversaries trampled on.”

[66:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”

[66:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”

[66:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”

[66:11]  sn Zion’s residents will benefit from and enjoy her great material prosperity. See v. 12.