Yesaya 7:2

7:2 It was reported to the family ¹  of David, “Syria has allied with ²  Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. ³ 

Yesaya 9:4

9:4 For their oppressive yoke

and the club that strikes their shoulders,

the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ⁴ 

you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ⁵ 

Yesaya 14:8

14:8 The evergreens also rejoice over your demise, ⁶ 

as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing, ⁷ 

‘Since you fell asleep, ⁸ 

no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’ ⁹ 

Yesaya 28:27

28:27 Certainly ¹⁰  caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge,

nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. ¹¹ 

Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,

and cumin seed with a flail.

Yesaya 55:12

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

Yesaya 57:5

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ¹²  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ¹³ 

[7:2]  ¹ tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.

[7:2]  ² tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”

[7:2]  ³ tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.

[9:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “for the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the scepter of the oppressor against him.” The singular pronouns are collective, referring to the people. The oppressed nation is compared to an ox weighed down by a heavy yoke and an animal that is prodded and beaten.

[9:4]  ⁵ sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.

[14:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “concerning you.”

[14:8]  ⁷ tn The word “singing” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Note that the personified trees speak in the second half of the verse.

[14:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “lay down” (in death); cf. NAB “laid to rest.”

[14:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “the [wood]cutter does not come up against us.”

[28:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB).

[28:27]  ¹¹ sn Both of these seeds are too small to use the ordinary threshing techniques.

[57:5]  ¹² tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ¹³ sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).