Yesaya 6:1-3

Isaiah’s Commission

6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, ¹  I saw the sovereign master ²  seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple. 6:2 Seraphs ³  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ⁴  and they used the remaining two to fly. 6:3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ⁵  is the Lord who commands armies! ⁶  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”

Yesaya 40:12-26

The Lord is Incomparable

40:12 Who has measured out the waters ⁷  in the hollow of his hand,

or carefully ⁸  measured the sky, ⁹ 

or carefully weighed ¹⁰  the soil of the earth,

or weighed the mountains in a balance,

or the hills on scales? ¹¹ 

40:13 Who comprehends ¹²  the mind ¹³  of the Lord,

or gives him instruction as his counselor? ¹⁴ 

40:14 From whom does he receive directions? ¹⁵ 

Who ¹⁶  teaches him the correct way to do things, ¹⁷ 

or imparts knowledge to him,

or instructs him in skillful design? ¹⁸ 

40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are regarded as dust on the scales.

He lifts ¹⁹  the coastlands ²⁰  as if they were dust.

40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; ²¹ 

its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. ²² 

40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;

they are regarded as absolutely nothing. ²³ 

40:18 To whom can you compare God?

To what image can you liken him?

40:19 A craftsman casts ²⁴  an idol;

a metalsmith overlays it with gold

and forges silver chains for it.

40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; ²⁵ 

he then seeks a skilled craftsman

to make ²⁶  an idol that will not fall over.

40:21 Do you not know?

Do you not hear?

Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?

Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?

40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; ²⁷ 

its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. ²⁸ 

He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, ²⁹ 

and spreads it out ³⁰  like a pitched tent. ³¹ 

40:23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;

he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.

40:24 Indeed, they are barely planted;

yes, they are barely sown;

yes, they barely take root in the earth,

and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,

and the wind carries them away like straw.

40:25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”

says the Holy One. ³² 

40:26 Look up at the sky! ³³ 

Who created all these heavenly lights? ³⁴ 

He is the one who leads out their ranks; ³⁵ 

he calls them all by name.

Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,

not one of them is missing.

Yesaya 55:8-9

55:8 “Indeed, ³⁶  my plans ³⁷  are not like ³⁸  your plans,

and my deeds ³⁹  are not like ⁴⁰  your deeds,

55:9 for just as the sky ⁴¹  is higher than the earth,

so my deeds ⁴²  are superior to ⁴³  your deeds

and my plans ⁴⁴  superior to your plans.

[6:1]  ¹ sn That is, approximately 740 b.c.

[6:1]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 11 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[6:2]  ³ tn Hebrew שָׂרָף (saraf, “seraph”) literally means “burning one,” perhaps suggesting that these creatures had a fiery appearance (cf. TEV, CEV “flaming creatures”; NCV “heavenly creatures of fire”). Elsewhere in the OT the word “seraph” refers to poisonous snakes (Num 21:6; Deut 8:15; Isa 14:29; 30:6). Perhaps they were called “burning ones” because of their appearance or the effect of their venomous bites, which would cause a victim to burn up with fever. It is possible that the seraphs seen by Isaiah were at least partially serpentine in appearance. Though it might seem strange for a snake-like creature to have wings, two of the texts where “seraphs” are snakes describe them as “flying” (Isa 14:29; 30:6), perhaps referring to their darting movements. See the note at 14:29.

[6:2]  ⁴ sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

[6:3]  ⁵ tn Some have seen a reference to the Trinity in the seraphs’ threefold declaration, “holy, holy, holy.” This proposal has no linguistic or contextual basis and should be dismissed as allegorical. Hebrew sometimes uses repetition for emphasis. (See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a; and GKC 431-32 §133.k.) By repeating the word “holy,” the seraphs emphasize the degree of the Lord’s holiness. For another example of threefold repetition for emphasis, see Ezek 21:27 (Heb. v. 32). (Perhaps Jer 22:29 provides another example.)

[6:3]  sn Or “The Lord who commands armies has absolute sovereign authority!” The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” In this context the Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. Note the emphasis on the elevated position of his throne in v. 1 and his designation as “the king” in v. 5. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. He is “set apart” from his subjects in a moral sense as well. He sets the standard; they fall short of it. Note that in v. 5 Isaiah laments that he is morally unworthy to be in the king’s presence.

[6:3]  ⁶ tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.

[40:12]  ⁷ tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.

[40:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).

[40:12]  ⁹ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[40:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”

[40:12]  ¹¹ sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.

[40:13]  ¹² tn Perhaps the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “advises” (note the following line).

[40:13]  ¹³ tn In this context רוּחַ (ruakh) likely refers to the Lord’s “mind,” or mental faculties, rather than his personal Spirit (see BDB 925 s.v.).

[40:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “or [as] the man of his counsel causes him to know?”

[40:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “With whom did he consult, so that he gave discernment to him?”

[40:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and taught him.” The vav (ו) consecutive with prefixed verbal form continues the previous line. The translation employs an interrogative pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[40:14]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase אֹרַח מִשְׁפָּט (’orakh mishpat) could be translated “path of justice” (so NASB, NRSV), but in this context, where creative ability and skill is in view, the phrase is better understood in the sense of “the way that is proper or fitting” (see BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 6); cf. NIV, NCV “the right way.”

[40:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “or the way of understanding causes him to know?”

[40:14]  sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions in vv. 13-14 is, “No one.” In contrast to Marduk, the creator-god of Mesopotamian myths who receives help from the god of wisdom, the Lord neither needs nor receives any such advice or help. See R. Whybray, Heavenly Counsellor (SOTSMS), 64-77.

[40:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “weighs” (NIV); NLT “picks up.”

[40:15]  ²⁰ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV, NLT).

[40:16]  ²¹ tn The words “for a sacrifice” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:16]  ²² sn The point is that not even the Lebanon forest could supply enough wood and animals for an adequate sacrifice to the Lord.

[40:17]  ²³ tn Heb “[as derived] from nothing and unformed.”

[40:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “pours out”; KJV “melteth.”

[40:20]  ²⁵ tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.

[40:20]  ²⁶ tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”

[40:22]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[40:22]  ²⁸ tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:22]  ²⁹ tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).

[40:22]  ³⁰ tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.

[40:22]  ³¹ tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”

[40:25]  ³² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[40:26]  ³³ tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”

[40:26]  ³⁴ tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.

[40:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)

[55:8]  ³⁶ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).

[55:8]  ³⁷ tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:9]  ⁴¹ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[55:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “are higher than.”

[55:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).