Yesaya 8:14

8:14 He will become a sanctuary, ¹ 

but a stone that makes a person trip,

and a rock that makes one stumble –

to the two houses of Israel. ² 

He will become ³  a trap and a snare

to the residents of Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Yesaya 22:21

22:21 I will put your robe on him, tie your belt around him, and transfer your authority to him. ⁵  He will become a protector of ⁶  the residents of Jerusalem and of the people ⁷  of Judah.

Yesaya 28:19

28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;

indeed, ⁸  every morning it will sweep by,

it will come through during the day and the night.” ⁹ 

When this announcement is understood,

it will cause nothing but terror.

Yesaya 53:3

53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, ¹⁰ 

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him; ¹¹ 

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ¹² 

[8:14]  ¹ tn Because the metaphor of protection (“sanctuary”) does not fit the negative mood that follows in vv. 14b-15, some contend that מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “sanctuary”) is probably a corruption of an original מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), a word that appears in the next line (cf. NAB and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:355-56). If the MT reading is retained (as in the above translation), the fact that Yahweh is a sanctuary wraps up the point of v. 13 and stands in contrast to God’s treatment of those who rebel against him (the rest of v. 14).

[8:14]  ² sn The two “houses” of Israel (= the patriarch Jacob) are the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

[8:14]  ³ tn These words are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. וְהָיָה (vÿhayah, “and he will be”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.

[8:14]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “and your dominion I will place in his hand.”

[22:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “a father to.” The Hebrew term אָב (’av, “father”) is here used metaphorically of one who protects and supports those under his care and authority, like a father does his family. For another example of this metaphorical use of the word, see Job 29:16.

[22:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[28:19]  ⁸ tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[28:19]  ⁹ tn The words “it will come through” are supplied in the translation. The verb “will sweep by” does double duty in the parallel structure.

[53:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 HT [39:4 ET]).

[53:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see BDB 712 s.v. מַסְתֵּר).

[53:3]  ¹² sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.