Yesaya 11:9

11:9 They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain. ¹ 

For there will be universal submission to the Lord’s sovereignty,

just as the waters completely cover the sea. ² 

Yesaya 34:17

34:17 He assigns them their allotment; ³ 

he measures out their assigned place. ⁴ 

They will live there ⁵  permanently;

they will settle in it through successive generations.

Yesaya 37:7

37:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; ⁶  he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down ⁷  with a sword in his own land.”’”

Yesaya 43:4

43:4 Since you are precious and special in my sight, ⁸ 

and I love you,

I will hand over people in place of you,

nations in place of your life.

Yesaya 53:3

53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, ⁹ 

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him; ¹⁰ 

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 59:15

59:15 Honesty has disappeared;

the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.

The Lord watches and is displeased, ¹² 

for there is no justice.

[11:9]  ¹ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” In the most basic sense the Lord’s “holy mountain” is the mountain from which he rules over his kingdom (see Ezek 28:14, 16). More specifically it probably refers to Mount Zion/Jerusalem or to the entire land of Israel (see Pss 2:6; 15:1; 43:3; Isa 56:7; 57:13; Ezek 20:40; Ob 16; Zeph 3:11). If the Lord’s universal kingdom is in view in this context (see the note on “earth” at v. 4), then the phrase would probably be metonymic here, standing for God’s worldwide dominion (see the next line).

[11:9]  ² tn Heb “for the earth will be full of knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The translation assumes that a universal kingdom is depicted here, but אֶרֶץ (’erets) could be translated “land” (see the note at v. 4). “Knowledge of the Lord” refers here to a recognition of the Lord’s sovereignty which results in a willingness to submit to his authority. See the note at v. 2.

[34:17]  ³ tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again the pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.

[34:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”

[37:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”

[43:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”

[53:3]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.

[59:15]  ¹² tn Heb “and it is displeasing in his eyes.”