Yesaya 17:13

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ¹ 

when he shouts at ²  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ³  before a strong gale.

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, ⁴ 

to a people that are feared far and wide, ⁵ 

to a nation strong and victorious, ⁶ 

whose land rivers divide. ⁷ 

Yesaya 30:1

Egypt Will Prove Unreliable

30:1 “The rebellious ⁸  children are as good as dead,” ⁹  says the Lord,

“those who make plans without consulting me, ¹⁰ 

who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ¹¹ 

and thereby compound their sin. ¹² 

Yesaya 36:8

36:8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them.

Yesaya 36:11

36:11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, ¹³  for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect ¹⁴  in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

Yesaya 36:16

36:16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. ¹⁵  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

Yesaya 46:7

46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;

they put it in its place and it just stands there;

it does not ¹⁶  move from its place.

Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;

it does not deliver him from his distress.

Yesaya 50:11

50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire

and who equip yourselves with ¹⁷  flaming arrows, ¹⁸ 

walk ¹⁹  in the light ²⁰  of the fire you started

and among the flaming arrows you ignited! ²¹ 

This is what you will receive from me: ²² 

you will lie down in a place of pain. ²³ 

Yesaya 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ²⁴ 

and sinful people their plans. ²⁵ 

They should return ²⁶  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ²⁷ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ²⁸ 

[17:13]  ¹ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ² tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ³ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[18:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”

[18:2]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.”

[30:1]  ⁸ tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”

[30:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”

[30:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”

[30:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.

[30:1]  ¹² tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”

[36:11]  ¹³ sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Assyrian empire.

[36:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or “in Hebrew” (NIV, NCV, NLT); NAB, NASB “in Judean.”

[36:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”

[46:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.

[50:11]  ¹⁷ tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).

[50:11]  ¹⁸ tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.

[50:11]  ¹⁹ tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.

[50:11]  ²⁰ tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).

[50:11]  ²¹ sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.

[50:11]  ²² tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[50:11]  ²³ sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.

[55:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ²⁷ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ²⁸ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.