Yesaya 5:26

5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, ¹ 

he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.

Look, they ²  come quickly and swiftly.

Yesaya 8:18

8:18 Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me ³  are reminders and object lessons ⁴  in Israel, sent from the Lord who commands armies, who lives on Mount Zion.

Yesaya 11:3

11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ⁵ 

He will not judge by mere appearances, ⁶ 

or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ⁷ 

Yesaya 17:14

17:14 In the evening there is sudden terror; ⁸ 

by morning they vanish. ⁹ 

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

the destiny of those who try to loot us! ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 37:7

37:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; ¹¹  he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down ¹²  with a sword in his own land.”’”

Yesaya 38:8

38:8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” ¹³  And then the shadow went back ten steps. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 59:19

59:19 In the west, people respect ¹⁵  the Lord’s reputation; ¹⁶ 

in the east they recognize his splendor. ¹⁷ 

For he comes like a rushing ¹⁸  stream

driven on by wind sent from the Lord. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 60:2

60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth

and deep darkness covers ²⁰  the nations,

but the Lord shines on you;

his splendor ²¹  appears over you.

[5:26]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has literally, “for nations from a distance.” The following verses use singular forms to describe this nation, so the final mem (ם) on לְגּוֹיִם (lÿgoyim) may be enclitic or dittographic. In the latter case one could read לְגוֹי מֵרָחוֹק (lÿgoy merakhoq, “for a nation from a distance”; see Deut 28:49; Joel 3:8). Another possibility is to emend the text from לַגּוֹיִם מֵרָחוֹק (laggoyim merakhoq) to לְגוֹי מִמֶּרְחָק (lÿgoy mimmerkhaq, “for a nation from a distant place”) a phrase which occurs in Jer 5:15. In this case an error of misdivision has occurred in MT, the mem of the prefixed preposition being accidentally taken as a plural ending on the preceding word.

[5:26]  ² tn Heb “he.” Singular forms are used throughout vv. 26-30 to describe this nation, but for stylistic reasons the translation uses the plural for these collective singulars.

[8:18]  ³ sn This refers to Shear-jashub (7:3) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8:1, 3).

[8:18]  ⁴ tn Or “signs and portents” (NAB, NRSV). The names of all three individuals has symbolic value. Isaiah’s name (which meant “the Lord delivers”) was a reminder that the Lord was the nation’s only source of protection; Shear-jashub’s name was meant, at least originally, to encourage Ahaz (see the note at 7:3), and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’s name was a guarantee that God would defeat Israel and Syria (see the note at 8:4). The word מוֹפֶת (mofet, “portent”) can often refer to some miraculous event, but in 20:3 it is used, along with its synonym אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) of Isaiah’s walking around half-naked as an object lesson of what would soon happen to the Egyptians.

[11:3]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.

[11:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”

[17:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “at the time of evening, look, sudden terror.”

[17:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “before morning he is not.”

[17:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “this is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who loot us.”

[37:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.

[37:7]  ¹² tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”

[38:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “the shadow on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, with the sun, back ten steps.”

[38:8]  sn These steps probably functioned as a type of sundial. See HALOT 614 s.v. מַעֲלָה and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 256.

[38:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the sun returned ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.”

[59:19]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “fear.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read “see.”

[59:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and they fear from the west the name of the Lord.”

[59:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and from the rising of the sun his splendor.”

[59:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “narrow”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “pent-up.”

[59:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the wind of the Lord drives it on.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh) could be translated “breath” here (see 30:28).

[60:2]  ²⁰ tn The verb “covers” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[60:2]  ²¹ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions); TEV “the brightness of his presence.”