Yesaya 5:25

5:25 So the Lord is furious ¹  with his people;

he lifts ²  his hand and strikes them.

The mountains shake,

and corpses lie like manure ³  in the middle of the streets.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁴ 

Yesaya 10:20

10:20 At that time ⁵  those left in Israel, those who remain of the family ⁶  of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them. ⁷  Instead they will truly ⁸  rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ⁹ 

Yesaya 10:24

10:24 So ¹⁰  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 37:38

37:38 One day, ¹²  as he was worshiping ¹³  in the temple of his god Nisroch, ¹⁴  his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ¹⁵  They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Yesaya 66:3

66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; ¹⁶ 

the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; ¹⁷ 

the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; ¹⁸ 

the one who offers incense also praises an idol. ¹⁹ 

They have decided to behave this way; ²⁰ 

they enjoy these disgusting practices. ²¹ 

[5:25]  ¹ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord rages.”

[5:25]  ² tn Or “extends”; KJV, ASV “he hath stretched forth.”

[5:25]  ³ tn Or “garbage” (NCV, CEV, NLT); NAB, NASB, NIV “refuse.”

[5:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[10:20]  ⁵ tn Or “in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[10:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “house” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[10:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “on one who strikes him down.” This individual is the king (“foreign leader”) of the oppressing nation (which NLT specifies as “the Assyrians”).

[10:20]  ⁸ tn Or “sincerely”; KJV, ASV, NAB, NRSV “in truth.”

[10:20]  ⁹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

[10:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[37:38]  ¹² sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681 b.c.

[37:38]  ¹³ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[37:38]  ¹⁴ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.

[37:38]  ¹⁵ sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.

[66:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.

[66:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.

[66:3]  sn The significance of breaking a dog’s neck is uncertain, though the structure of the statement when compared to the preceding and following lines suggests the action is viewed in a negative light. According to Exod 13:13 and 34:20, one was to “redeem” a firstborn donkey by offering a lamb; if one did not “redeem” the firstborn donkey in this way, then its neck must be broken. According to Deut 21:1-9 a heifer’s neck was to be broken as part of the atonement ritual to purify the land from the guilt of bloodshed. It is not certain if these passages relate in any way to the action described in Isa 66:3.

[66:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.

[66:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.

[66:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”

[66:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”