Yesaya 10:18

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed, ¹ 

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ² 

Yesaya 22:22

22:22 I will place the key ³  to the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens the door, no one can close it; when he closes the door, no one can open it.

Yesaya 44:20

44:20 He feeds on ashes; ⁴ 

his deceived mind misleads him.

He cannot rescue himself,

nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ⁵ 

Yesaya 54:10

54:10 Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship ⁶  be displaced,”

says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

[10:18]  ¹ tn Heb “from breath to flesh it will destroy.” The expression “from breath to flesh” refers to the two basic components of a person, the immaterial (life’s breath) and the material (flesh). Here the phrase is used idiomatically to indicate totality.

[10:18]  ² tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. מָסַס (masas), which is used elsewhere of substances dissolving or melting, may here mean “waste away” or “despair.” נָסַס (nasas), which appears only here, may mean “be sick” or “stagger, despair.” See BDB 651 s.v. I נָסַס and HALOT 703 s.v. I נסס. One might translate the line literally, “like the wasting away of one who is sick” (cf. NRSV “as when an invalid wastes away”).

[22:22]  ³ sn This may refer to a literal insignia worn by the chief administrator. Even so, it would still symbolize the administrator’s authority to grant or exclude access to the king. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:422.

[44:20]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”

[44:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”

[54:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”