Yesaya 10:24

10:24 So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

Yesaya 18:2

18:2 that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, ³ 

to a people that are feared far and wide, ⁴ 

to a nation strong and victorious, ⁵ 

whose land rivers divide. ⁶ 

Yesaya 21:2

21:2 I have received a distressing message: ⁷ 

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!” ⁸ 

Yesaya 28:4

28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,

situated at the head of a rich valley,

will be like an early fig before harvest –

as soon as someone notices it,

he grabs it and swallows it. ⁹ 

Yesaya 28:13

28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like

meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ¹⁰ 

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ¹¹ 

and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ¹² 

Yesaya 35:10

35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ¹³ 

They will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ¹⁴ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ¹⁵  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 41:7

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ¹⁷  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ¹⁸ 

and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

Yesaya 42:25

42:25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,

along with the devastation ¹⁹  of war.

Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; ²⁰ 

it burned against them, but they did notice. ²¹ 

Yesaya 47:8

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ²² 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ²³ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ²⁴ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ²⁵ 

Yesaya 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ²⁶  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 48:16

48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!

From the very first I have not spoken in secret;

when it happens, ²⁸  I am there.”

So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ²⁹ 

Yesaya 49:23

49:23 Kings will be your children’s ³⁰  guardians;

their princesses will nurse your children. ³¹ 

With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you

and they will lick the dirt on ³²  your feet.

Then you will recognize that I am the Lord;

those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

Yesaya 53:10

53:10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,

once restitution is made, ³³ 

he will see descendants and enjoy long life, ³⁴ 

and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.

Yesaya 65:8-9

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When ³⁵  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ³⁶ 

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone. ³⁷ 

65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.

My chosen ones will take possession of the land; ³⁸ 

my servants will live there.

Yesaya 65:22

65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, ³⁹ 

or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, ⁴⁰ 

for my people will live as long as trees, ⁴¹ 

and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. ⁴² 

[10:24]  ¹ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

[10:24]  ² tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[18:2]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (mÿmushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”

[18:2]  ⁵ tn Once more the precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. The expression קַו־קָו (qav-qav) is sometimes related to a proposed Arabic cognate and taken to mean “strength” (see BDB 876 II קַו). Others, on the basis of Isa 28:10, 13, understand the form as gibberish (literally, “kav, kav”) and take it to be a reference to this nation’s strange, unknown language. The form מְבוּסָה (mÿvusah) appears to be derived from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”), so lexicographers suggest the meaning “trampling” or “subjugation,” i.e., a nation that subdues others. See BDB 101 s.v. בּוּס and HALOT 541 s.v. מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (baza’), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. BDB 102 s.v. suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; HALOT 117 s.v., citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”

[21:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

[21:2]  ⁸ sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

[28:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”

[28:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.

[28:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.

[28:13]  ¹² sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

[35:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”

[35:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[35:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”

[35:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

[41:7]  ¹⁷ tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[42:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “strength” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “fury”; NASB “fierceness”; NIV “violence.”

[42:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and it blazed against him all around, but he did not know.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb “blazed” is the divine חֵמָה (khemah, “anger”) mentioned in the previous line.

[42:25]  ²¹ tn Heb “and it burned against him, but he did not set [it] upon [the] heart.”

[47:8]  ²² tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ²³ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[47:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

[48:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”

[48:16]  ²⁹ sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.

[49:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “your,” but Zion here stands by metonymy for her children (see v. 22b).

[49:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “you.” See the preceding note.

[49:23]  ³² tn Or “at your feet” (NAB, NIV); NLT “from your feet.”

[53:10]  ³³ tn The meaning of this line is uncertain. It reads literally, “if you/she makes, a reparation offering, his life.” The verb תָּשִׂים (tasim) could be second masculine singular,in which case it would have to be addressed to the servant or to God. However, the servant is only addressed once in this servant song (see 52:14a), and God either speaks or is spoken about in this servant song; he is never addressed. Furthermore, the idea of God himself making a reparation offering is odd. If the verb is taken as third feminine singular, then the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) at the end of the line is the likely subject. In this case one can take the suffixed form of the noun as equivalent to a pronoun and translate, “if he [literally, “his life”] makes a reparation offering.”

[53:10]  sn What constitutes the servant’s reparation offering? Some might think his suffering, but the preceding context views this as past, while the verb here is imperfect in form. The offering appears to be something the servant does after his suffering has been completed. Perhaps the background of the language can be found in the Levitical code, where a healed leper would offer a reparation offering as part of the ritual to achieve ceremonial cleanliness (see Lev 14). The servant was pictured earlier in the song as being severely ill. This illness (a metaphor for the effects of the people’s sin) separated him from God. However, here we discover the separation is not final; once reparation is made, so to speak, he will again experience the Lord’s favor.

[53:10]  ³⁴ sn The idiomatic and stereotypical language emphasizes the servant’s restoration to divine favor. Having numerous descendants and living a long life are standard signs of divine blessing. See Job 42:13-16.

[65:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”

[65:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.

[65:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”

[65:22]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”

[65:22]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”

[65:22]  ⁴² tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”