Yesaya 6:13

6:13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, ¹  like one of the large sacred trees ²  or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. ³  That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” ⁴ 

Yesaya 23:15

23:15 At that time ⁵  Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, ⁶  the typical life span of a king. ⁷  At the end of seventy years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song: ⁸ 

Yesaya 29:23

29:23 For when they see their children,

whom I will produce among them, ⁹ 

they will honor ¹⁰  my name.

They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; ¹¹ 

they will respect ¹²  the God of Israel.

Yesaya 41:17

41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched from thirst.

I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ¹³ 

I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

Yesaya 47:11

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away. ¹⁴ 

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it. ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 50:10

50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?

Who obeys ¹⁶  his servant?

Whoever walks in deep darkness, ¹⁷ 

without light,

should trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

[6:13]  ¹ tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”

[6:13]  ² tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).

[6:13]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.

[6:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.

[23:15]  ⁵ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[23:15]  ⁶ sn The number seventy is probably used in a stereotypical, nonliteral sense here to indicate a long period of time that satisfies completely the demands of God’s judgment.

[23:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “like the days of a king.”

[23:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “At the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre like the song of the prostitute.”

[29:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “for when he sees his children, the work of my hands in his midst.”

[29:23]  ¹⁰ tn Or “treat as holy” (also in the following line); NASB, NRSV “will sanctify.”

[29:23]  ¹¹ sn Holy One of Jacob is similar to the phrase “Holy One of Israel” common throughout Isaiah; see the sn at Isa 1:4.

[29:23]  ¹² tn Or “fear,” in the sense of “stand in awe of.”

[41:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[47:11]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.

[47:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”

[50:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[50:10]  ¹⁷ tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.