Yesaya 5:29

5:29 Their roar is like a lion’s;

they roar like young lions.

They growl and seize their prey;

they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.

Yesaya 23:4

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea ¹  says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.” ² 

Yesaya 47:12

47:12 Persist ³  in trusting ⁴  your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited ⁵  since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful ⁶  –

maybe you will scare away disaster. ⁷ 

[23:4]  ¹ tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.

[23:4]  ² tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

[23:4]  sn The sea is personified here as a lamenting childless woman. The foreboding language anticipates the following announcement of Tyre’s demise, viewed here as a child of the sea, as it were.

[47:12]  ³ tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”

[47:12]  ⁴ tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.

[47:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”

[47:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”

[47:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.