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 26:21

26:21 For look, the Lord is coming out of the place where he lives, ⁵ 

to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.

The earth will display the blood shed on it;

it will no longer cover up its slain. ⁶ 

Yesaya 28:2

28:2 Look, the sovereign master ⁷  sends a strong, powerful one. ⁸ 

With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, ⁹ 

with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, ¹⁰ 

he will knock that crown ¹¹  to the ground with his hand. ¹² 

Yesaya 29:16

29:16 Your thinking is perverse! ¹³ 

Should the potter be regarded as clay? ¹⁴ 

Should the thing made say ¹⁵  about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?

Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

Yesaya 30:10

30:10 They ¹⁶  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ¹⁷ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 30:17

30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; ¹⁹ 

at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, ²⁰ 

until the remaining few are as isolated ²¹ 

as a flagpole on a mountaintop

or a signal flag on a hill.”

Yesaya 33:1

The Lord Will Restore Zion

33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, ²² 

you who have not been destroyed!

The deceitful one is as good as dead, ²³ 

the one whom others have not deceived!

When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;

when you finish ²⁴  deceiving, others will deceive you!

Yesaya 33:14

33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;

panic ²⁵  grips the godless. ²⁶ 

They say, ²⁷  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ²⁸  fire?’

Yesaya 34:16

34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! ²⁹ 

Not one of these creatures will be missing, ³⁰ 

none will lack a mate. ³¹ 

For the Lord has issued the decree, ³² 

and his own spirit gathers them. ³³ 

Yesaya 35:2

35:2 Let it richly bloom; ³⁴ 

let it rejoice and shout with delight! ³⁵ 

It is given the grandeur ³⁶  of Lebanon,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.

They will see the grandeur of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

Yesaya 37:38

37:38 One day, ³⁷  as he was worshiping ³⁸  in the temple of his god Nisroch, ³⁹  his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ⁴⁰  They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Yesaya 41:7

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ⁴¹  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ⁴² 

and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

Yesaya 50:10

50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?

Who obeys ⁴³  his servant?

Whoever walks in deep darkness, ⁴⁴ 

without light,

should trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

Yesaya 51:13

51:13 Why do you forget ⁴⁵  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ⁴⁶ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ⁴⁷ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ⁴⁸ 

Yesaya 58:7

58:7 I want you ⁴⁹  to share your food with the hungry

and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. ⁵⁰ 

When you see someone naked, clothe him!

Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! ⁵¹ 

Yesaya 60:14

60:14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;

all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.

They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ⁵² 

[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.

[26:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “out of his place” (so KJV, ASV).

[26:21]  ⁶ sn This implies that rampant bloodshed is one of the reasons for divine judgment. See the note at 24:5.

[28:2]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[28:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”

[28:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”

[28:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”

[28:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “by [his] power.”

[29:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “your overturning.” The predicate is suppressed in this exclamation. The idea is, “O your perversity! How great it is!” See GKC 470 §147.c. The people “overturn” all logic by thinking their authority supersedes God’s.

[29:16]  ¹⁴ tn The expected answer to this rhetorical question is “of course not.” On the interrogative use of אִם (’im), see BDB 50 s.v.

[29:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “that the thing made should say.”

[30:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

[30:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

[30:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.

[30:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.

[30:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[33:1]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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.”

[33:14]  ²⁵ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

[33:14]  ²⁶ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

[33:14]  ²⁷ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:14]  ²⁸ tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[34:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”

[34:16]  sn It is uncertain what particular scroll is referred to here. Perhaps the phrase simply refers to this prophecy and is an admonition to pay close attention to the details of the message.

[34:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”

[34:16]  ³² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and a few medieval mss have פִּיהוּ (pihu, “his mouth [has commanded]”), while a few other medieval mss read פִּי יְהוָה (pi yÿhvah, “the mouth of the Lord [has commanded]”).

[34:16]  ³³ tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[35:2]  ³⁴ tn The ambiguous verb form תִּפְרַח (tifrakh) is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel).

[35:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and let it rejoice, yes [with] rejoicing and shouting.” גִּילַת (gilat) may be an archaic feminine nominal form (see GKC 421 §130.b).

[35:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “glory” (KJV, NIV, NRSV); also a second time later in this verse.

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

[37:38]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.

[37:38]  ⁴⁰ 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.

[41:7]  ⁴¹ tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ⁴² tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[50:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[50:10]  ⁴⁴ tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.

[51:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[51:13]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ⁴⁸ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.

[58:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”

[58:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.

[58:7]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”

[60:14]  ⁵² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.