Yesaya 13:2

13:2 ¹ On a bare hill raise a signal flag,

shout to them,

wave your hand,

so they might enter the gates of the princes!

Yesaya 13:4

13:4 ² There is a loud noise on the mountains –

it sounds like a large army! ³ 

There is great commotion among the kingdoms ⁴  –

nations are being assembled!

The Lord who commands armies is mustering

forces for battle.

Yesaya 13:14

13:14 Like a frightened gazelle ⁵ 

or a sheep with no shepherd,

each will turn toward home, ⁶ 

each will run to his homeland.

Yesaya 14:9

14:9 Sheol ⁷  below is stirred up about you,

ready to meet you when you arrive.

It rouses ⁸  the spirits of the dead for you,

all the former leaders of the earth; ⁹ 

it makes all the former kings of the nations

rise from their thrones. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 14:12

14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,

O shining one, son of the dawn! ¹¹ 

You have been cut down to the ground,

O conqueror ¹²  of the nations! ¹³ 

Yesaya 52:5

52:5 And now, what do we have here?” ¹⁴  says the Lord.

“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,

those who rule over them taunt,” ¹⁵  says the Lord,

“and my name is constantly slandered ¹⁶  all day long.

Yesaya 55:12

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

[13:2]  ¹ sn The Lord is speaking here (see v. 3).

[13:4]  ² sn In vv. 4-10 the prophet appears to be speaking, since the Lord is referred to in the third person. However, since the Lord refers to himself in the third person later in this chapter (see v. 13), it is possible that he speaks throughout the chapter.

[13:4]  ³ tn Heb “a sound, a roar [is] on the mountains, like many people.”

[13:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “a sound, tumult of kingdoms.”

[13:14]  ⁵ tn Or “like a gazelle being chased.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[13:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “his people” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “his nation” (cf. TEV “their own countries”).

[14:9]  ⁷ sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead.

[14:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “arousing.” The form is probably a Polel infinitive absolute, rather than a third masculine singular perfect, for Sheol is grammatically feminine (note “stirred up”). See GKC 466 §145.t.

[14:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “all the rams of the earth.” The animal epithet is used metaphorically here for leaders. See HALOT 903 s.v. *עַתּוּד.

[14:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lifting from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” הֵקִים (heqim, a Hiphil perfect third masculine singular) should be emended to an infinitive absolute (הָקֵים, haqem). See the note on “rouses” earlier in the verse.

[14:12]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר (helel ben-shakhar, “Helel son of Shachar”), which is probably a name for the morning star (Venus) or the crescent moon. See HALOT 245 s.v. הֵילֵל.

[14:12]  sn What is the background for the imagery in vv. 12-15? This whole section (vv. 4b-21) is directed to the king of Babylon, who is clearly depicted as a human ruler. Other kings of the earth address him in vv. 9ff., he is called “the man” in v. 16, and, according to vv. 19-20, he possesses a physical body. Nevertheless the language of vv. 12-15 has led some to see a dual referent in the taunt song. These verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv. 9-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology, including references to Helel son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High. Apparently these verses allude to a mythological story about a minor god (Helel son of Shachar) who tried to take over Zaphon, the mountain of the gods. His attempted coup failed and he was hurled down to the underworld. The king of Babylon is taunted for having similar unrealized delusions of grandeur. Some Christians have seen an allusion to the fall of Satan here, but this seems contextually unwarranted (see J. Martin, “Isaiah,” BKCOT, 1061).

[14:12]  ¹² tn Some understand the verb to from חָלַשׁ (khalash, “to weaken”), but HALOT 324 s.v. II חלשׁ proposes a homonym here, meaning “to defeat.”

[14:12]  ¹³ sn In this line the taunting kings hint at the literal identity of the king, after likening him to the god Helel and a tree. The verb גָדַע (gada’, “cut down”) is used of chopping down trees in 9:10 and 10:33.

[52:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading (Qere)] to me here?”

[52:5]  ¹⁵ tn The verb appears to be a Hiphil form from the root יָלַל (yalal, “howl”), perhaps here in the sense of “mock.” Some emend the form to יְהוֹלָּלוֹ (yÿhollalo) and understand a Polel form of the root הָלַל meaning here “mock, taunt.”

[52:5]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is apparently a Hitpolal form (with assimilated tav, ת) from the root נָאַץ (na’ats), but GKC 151-52 §55.b explains it as a mixed form, combining Pual and Hitpolel readings.