Yesaya 27:1

27:1 At that time ¹  the Lord will punish

with his destructive, ²  great, and powerful sword

Leviathan the fast-moving ³  serpent,

Leviathan the squirming serpent;

he will kill the sea monster. ⁴ 

Yesaya 28:2

28:2 Look, the sovereign master ⁵  sends a strong, powerful one. ⁶ 

With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, ⁷ 

with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, ⁸ 

he will knock that crown ⁹  to the ground with his hand. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 30:14

30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,

so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ¹¹ 

Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ¹² 

to scoop a hot coal from a fire ¹³ 

or to skim off water from a cistern.” ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 37:33

37:33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

‘He will not enter this city,

nor will he shoot an arrow here. ¹⁵ 

He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, ¹⁶ 

nor will he build siege works against it.

Yesaya 47:8

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ¹⁷ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ¹⁸ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ¹⁹ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ²⁰ 

[27:1]  ¹ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[27:1]  ² tn Heb “hard, severe”; cf. NAB, NRSV “cruel”; KJV “sore”; NLT “terrible.”

[27:1]  ³ tn Heb “fleeing” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Some translate “slippery” or “slithering.”

[27:1]  ⁴ tn The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon (Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַנִּין [tannin, translated “sea monster” here]) vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling (Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן [’aqallaton, translated “squirming” here]) serpent, the tyrant with seven heads (cf. Ps 74:14).” (See CTA 3 iii 38-39.) (2) “for all that you smote Leviathan the slippery (Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ [bariakh, translated “fast-moving” here]) serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5 i 1-3.)

[27:1]  sn In the Ugaritic mythological texts Leviathan is a sea creature that symbolizes the destructive water of the sea and in turn the forces of chaos that threaten the established order. Isaiah here applies imagery from Canaanite mythology to Yahweh’s eschatological victory over his enemies. Elsewhere in the OT, the battle with the sea motif is applied to Yahweh’s victories over the forces of chaos at creation and in history (cf. Pss 74:13-14; 77:16-20; 89:9-10; Isa 51:9-10). Yahweh’s subjugation of the chaos waters is related to His kingship (cf. Pss 29:3, 10; 93:3-4). Apocalyptic literature employs the imagery as well. The beasts of Dan 7 emerge from the sea, while Rev 13 speaks of a seven-headed beast coming from the sea.

[28:2]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[28:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”

[28:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”

[28:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”

[28:2]  ⁹ tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.

[28:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “by [his] power.”

[30:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”

[30:14]  ¹² tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

[30:14]  ¹⁴ tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.

[37:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.

[37:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[47:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”