Yesaya 41:13

41:13 For I am the Lord your God,

the one who takes hold of your right hand,

who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’

Yesaya 22:17

22:17 Look, the Lord will throw you far away, ¹  you mere man! ² 

He will wrap you up tightly. ³ 

Yesaya 3:6

3:6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother

right in his father’s house ⁴  and say, ⁵ 

‘You own a coat –

you be our leader!

This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ ⁶ 

Yesaya 27:5

27:5 unless they became my subjects ⁷ 

and made peace with me;

let them make peace with me. ⁸ 

Yesaya 56:4

56:4 For this is what the Lord says:

“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths

and choose what pleases me

and are faithful to ⁹  my covenant,

Yesaya 4:1

4:1 Seven women will grab hold of

one man at that time. ¹⁰ 

They will say, “We will provide ¹¹  our own food,

we will provide ¹²  our own clothes;

but let us belong to you ¹³  –

take away our shame!” ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 64:7

64:7 No one invokes ¹⁵  your name,

or makes an effort ¹⁶  to take hold of you.

For you have rejected us ¹⁷ 

and handed us over to our own sins. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 33:23

33:23 Though at this time your ropes are slack, ¹⁹ 

the mast is not secured, ²⁰ 

and the sail ²¹  is not unfurled,

at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot; ²² 

even the lame will drag off plunder. ²³ 

Yesaya 32:1

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; ²⁴ 

officials will promote justice. ²⁵ 

Yesaya 42:6

42:6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you; ²⁶ 

I take hold of your hand.

I protect you ²⁷  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ²⁸ 

and a light ²⁹  to the nations, ³⁰ 

Yesaya 34:12

34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom

and all her officials will disappear. ³¹ 

Yesaya 36:4

36:4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence? ³² 

Yesaya 51:18

51:18 There was no one to lead her

among all the children she bore;

there was no one to take her by the hand

among all the children she raised.

Yesaya 40:10

40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; ³³ 

his military power establishes his rule. ³⁴ 

Look, his reward is with him;

his prize goes before him. ³⁵ 

Yesaya 41:10

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ³⁶ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ³⁷ 

Yesaya 42:1

The Lord Commissions His Special Servant

42:1 ³⁸ “Here is my servant whom I support,

my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.

I have placed my spirit on him;

he will make just decrees ³⁹  for the nations. ⁴⁰ 

Yesaya 56:2

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ⁴¹ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ⁴² 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ⁴³ 

Yesaya 26:2

26:2 Open the gates so a righteous nation can enter –

one that remains trustworthy.

Yesaya 45:1

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ⁴⁴  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ⁴⁵ 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ⁴⁶ 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

Yesaya 56:6

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of ⁴⁷  the Lord and serve him,

who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –

all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

and who are faithful to ⁴⁸  my covenant –

Yesaya 10:18

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed, ⁴⁹ 

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ⁵⁰ 

Yesaya 22:22

22:22 I will place the key ⁵¹  to the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens the door, no one can close it; when he closes the door, no one can open it.

Yesaya 44:20

44:20 He feeds on ashes; ⁵² 

his deceived mind misleads him.

He cannot rescue himself,

nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ ⁵³ 

Yesaya 54:10

54:10 Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship ⁵⁴  be displaced,”

says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

Yesaya 14:2

14:2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ⁵⁵  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Yesaya 33:1

The Lord Will Restore Zion

33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, ⁵⁶ 

you who have not been destroyed!

The deceitful one is as good as dead, ⁵⁷ 

the one whom others have not deceived!

When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;

when you finish ⁵⁸  deceiving, others will deceive you!

Yesaya 44:19

44:19 No one thinks to himself,

nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:

‘I burned half of it in the fire –

yes, I baked bread over the coals;

I roasted meat and ate it.

With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?

Should I bow down to dry wood?’ ⁵⁹ 

[22:17]  ¹ tn Heb “will throw you with a throwing.”

[22:17]  ² tn Heb “O man” (so NASB); NAB “mortal man”; NRSV “my fellow.”

[22:17]  ³ tn Heb “and the one who wraps you [will] wrap.”

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “[in] the house of his father” (so ASV); NIV “at his father’s home.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn The words “and say” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “your hand”; NASB “under your charge.”

[3:6]  sn The man’s motives are selfish. He tells his brother to assume leadership because he thinks he has some wealth to give away.

[27:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “or let him take hold of my refuge.” The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is uncertain. Apparently the symbolic “thorns and briers” are in view, though in v. 4b a feminine singular pronoun was used to refer to them.

[27:5]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew text has, “he makes peace with me, peace he makes with me.” Some contend that two alternative readings are preserved here and one should be deleted. The first has the object שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) preceding the verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “make”); the second reverses the order. Another option is to retain both statements, although repetitive, to emphasize the need to make peace with Yahweh.

[56:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in that day” (ASV).

[4:1]  sn The seven to one ratio emphasizes the great disparity that will exist in the population due to the death of so many men in battle.

[4:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “eat” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “buy.”

[4:1]  ¹² tn Heb “wear” (so NASB, NRSV); NCV “make.”

[4:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “only let your name be called over us.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28, and BDB 896 s.v. I ָקרָא Niph. 2.d.(4). The language reflects the cultural reality of ancient Israel, where women were legally the property of their husbands.

[4:1]  ¹⁴ sn This refers to the humiliation of being unmarried and childless. The women’s words reflect the cultural standards of ancient Israel, where a woman’s primary duties were to be a wife and mother.

[64:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”

[64:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”

[64:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”

[64:7]  ¹⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.

[33:23]  ¹⁹ tn The words “though at this time” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first half of the verse is addressed to Judah and contrasts the nation’s present weakness with its future prosperity. Judah is compared to a ship that is incapable of sailing.

[33:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they do not fasten the base of their mast.” On כֵּן (ken, “base”) see BDB 487 s.v. III כֵּן and HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן.

[33:23]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps, “flag.”

[33:23]  ²² tn Heb “then there will be divided up loot of plunder [in] abundance.”

[33:23]  ²³ sn Judah’s victory over its enemies will be so thorough there will be more than enough plunder for everyone, even slow-moving lame men who would normally get left out in the rush to gather the loot.

[32:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

[32:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

[42:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “call you in righteousness.” The pronoun “you” is masculine singular, referring to the servant. See the note at 41:2.

[42:6]  ²⁷ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצַר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצַר (yatsar, “form”).

[42:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. The precise identity of עָם (’am, “people”) is uncertain. In v. 5 עָם refers to mankind, and the following reference to “nations” also favors this. But in 49:8, where the phrase בְּרִית עָם occurs again, Israel seems to be in view.

[42:6]  ²⁹ sn Light here symbolizes deliverance from bondage and oppression; note the parallelism in 49:6b and in 51:4-6.

[42:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “the Gentiles” (so KJV, ASV, NIV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context.

[34:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”

[36:4]  ³² tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”

[40:10]  ³³ tn Heb “comes as a strong one”; ASV “will come as a mighty one.” The preposition בְּ (bet) here carries the nuance “in the capacity of.” It indicates that the Lord possesses the quality expressed by the noun. See GKC 379 §119.i and HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ.

[40:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his arm rules for him” (so NIV, NRSV). The Lord’s “arm” symbolizes his military power (see Isa 51:9-10; 63:5).

[40:10]  ³⁵ tn As the Lord returns to Jerusalem as a victorious warrior, he brings with him the spoils of victory, called here his “reward” and “prize.” These terms might also be translated “wages” and “recompense.” Verse 11 indicates that his rescued people, likened to a flock of sheep, are his reward.

[41:10]  ³⁶ tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).

[41:10]  ³⁷ tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).

[42:1]  ³⁸ sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.

[42:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[42:1]  ⁴⁰ sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.

[56:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[45:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ⁴⁵ sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”

[56:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”

[56:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”

[10:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “from breath to flesh it will destroy.” The expression “from breath to flesh” refers to the two basic components of a person, the immaterial (life’s breath) and the material (flesh). Here the phrase is used idiomatically to indicate totality.

[10:18]  ⁵⁰ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. מָסַס (masas), which is used elsewhere of substances dissolving or melting, may here mean “waste away” or “despair.” נָסַס (nasas), which appears only here, may mean “be sick” or “stagger, despair.” See BDB 651 s.v. I נָסַס and HALOT 703 s.v. I נסס. One might translate the line literally, “like the wasting away of one who is sick” (cf. NRSV “as when an invalid wastes away”).

[22:22]  ⁵¹ sn This may refer to a literal insignia worn by the chief administrator. Even so, it would still symbolize the administrator’s authority to grant or exclude access to the king. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:422.

[44:20]  ⁵² tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”

[44:20]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”

[54:10]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”

[14:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

[33:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”

[33:1]  sn In this context “the destroyer” appears to refer collectively to the hostile nations (vv. 3-4). Assyria would probably have been primary in the minds of the prophet and his audience.

[33:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.

[33:1]  ⁵⁸ tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”

[44:19]  ⁵⁹ tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.