Yesaya 27:4

27:4 I am not angry.

I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!

Then I would march against them ¹  for battle;

I would set them ²  all on fire,

Yesaya 57:16

57:16 For I will not be hostile ³  forever

or perpetually angry,

for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, ⁴ 

the life-giving breath I created.

[27:4]  ¹ tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense. For other examples of a cohortative expressing resolve after a hypothetical statement introduced by נָתַן with מִי (miwith natan), see Judg 9:29; Jer 9:1-2; Ps 55:6.

[27:4]  ² tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense.

[57:16]  ³ tn Or perhaps, “argue,” or “accuse” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “for a spirit from before me would be faint.”