Yesaya 14:17

14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,

who ruined its ¹  cities,

and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ² 

Yesaya 18:3

18:3 All you who live in the world,

who reside on the earth,

you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains;

you will hear a trumpet being blown.

Yesaya 24:4

24:4 The earth ³  dries up ⁴  and withers,

the world shrivels up and withers;

the prominent people of the earth ⁵  fade away.

Yesaya 27:6

27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root; ⁶ 

Israel will blossom and grow branches.

The produce ⁷  will fill the surface of the world. ⁸ 

Yesaya 34:1

The Lord Will Judge Edom

34:1 Come near, you nations, and listen!

Pay attention, you people!

The earth and everything it contains must listen,

the world and everything that lives in it. ⁹ 

Yesaya 13:11

13:11 ¹⁰ I will punish the world for its evil, ¹¹ 

and wicked people for their sin.

I will put an end to the pride of the insolent,

I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants. ¹² 

Yesaya 14:21

14:21 Prepare to execute ¹³  his sons

for the sins their ancestors have committed. ¹⁴ 

They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,

or fill the surface of the world with cities.” ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 26:9

26:9 I ¹⁶  look for ¹⁷  you during the night,

my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,

for when your judgments come upon the earth,

those who live in the world learn about justice. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 26:18

26:18 We were pregnant, we strained,

we gave birth, as it were, to wind. ¹⁹ 

We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;

people to populate the world are not born. ²⁰ 

Yesaya 66:19

66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ²¹  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ²²  Lud ²³  (known for its archers ²⁴ ), Tubal, Javan, ²⁵  and to the distant coastlands ²⁶  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

[14:17]  ¹ tc The pronominal suffix is masculine, even though its antecedent appears to be the grammatically feminine noun “world.” Some have suggested that the form עָרָיו (’arayv, plural noun with third masculine singular suffix) should be emended to עָרֶיהָ (’areha, plural noun with third feminine singular suffix). This emendation may be unnecessary in light of other examples of lack of agreement a suffix and its antecedent noun.

[14:17]  ² tn Heb “and his prisoners did not let loose to [their] homes.” This really means, “he did not let loose his prisoners and send them back to their homes.’ On the elliptical style, see GKC 366 §117.o.

[24:4]  ³ tn Some prefer to read “land” here, but the word pair אֶרֶץ/תֵּבֵל (erets/tevel [see the corresponding term in the parallel line]) elsewhere clearly designates the earth/world (see 1 Sam 2:8; 1 Chr 16:30; Job 37;12; Pss 19:4; 24:1; 33:8; 89:11; 90:2; 96:13; 98:9; Prov 8:26, 31; Isa 14:16-17; 34:1; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Lam 4:12). According to L. Stadelmann, תבל designates “the habitable part of the world” (The Hebrew Conception of the World [AnBib], 130).

[24:4]  ⁴ tn Or “mourns” (BDB 5 s.v. אָבַל). HALOT 6-7 lists the homonyms I אבל (“mourn”) and II אבל (“dry up”). They propose the second here on the basis of parallelism.

[24:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “the height of the people of the earth.” The translation assumes an emendation of the singular form מְרוֹם (mÿrom, “height of”) to the plural construct מְרֹמֵי (mÿrome, “high ones of”; note the plural verb at the beginning of the line), and understands the latter as referring to the prominent people of human society.

[27:6]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “the coming ones, let Jacob take root.” הַבָּאִים (habba’im, “the coming ones”) should probably be emended to יָמִים בָאִים (yamim va’im, “days [are] coming”) or בְּיָמִים הַבָּאִים (biyamim habba’im, “in the coming days”).

[27:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “fruit” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[27:6]  ⁸ sn This apparently refers to a future population explosion. See 26:18.

[34:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “the world and its offspring”; NASB “the world and all that springs from it.”

[13:11]  ¹⁰ sn The Lord is definitely speaking (again?) at this point. See the note at v. 4.

[13:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “I will bring disaster on the world.” Hebrew רָעָה (ra’ah) could refer to the judgment (i.e., disaster, calamity) or to the evil that prompts it. The structure of the parallel line favors the latter interpretation.

[13:11]  ¹² tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; cf. NASB, NIV “the ruthless.”

[14:21]  ¹³ tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”

[14:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”

[14:21]  ¹⁵ sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.

[26:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).

[26:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).

[26:9]  ¹⁸ tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).

[26:18]  ¹⁹ tn On the use of כְּמוֹ (kÿmo, “like, as”) here, see BDB 455 s.v. Israel’s distress and suffering, likened here to the pains of childbirth, seemed to be for no purpose. A woman in labor endures pain with the hope that a child will be born; in Israel’s case no such positive outcome was apparent. The nation was like a woman who strains to bring forth a child, but can’t push the baby through to daylight. All her effort produces nothing.

[26:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the world do not fall.” The term נָפַל (nafal) apparently means here, “be born,” though the Qal form of the verb is not used with this nuance anywhere else in the OT. (The Hiphil appears to be used in the sense of “give birth” in v. 19, however.) The implication of verse 18b seems to be that Israel hoped its suffering would somehow end in deliverance and an increase in population. The phrase “inhabitants of the world” seems to refer to the human race in general, but the next verse, which focuses on Israel’s dead, suggests the referent may be more limited.

[66:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

[66:19]  ²² tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ²³ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ²⁵ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ²⁶ tn Or “islands” (NIV).