Yesaya 8:15

8:15 Many will stumble over the stone and the rock, ¹ 

and will fall and be seriously injured,

and will be ensnared and captured.”

Yesaya 54:15

54:15 If anyone dares to ²  challenge you, it will not be my doing!

Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. ³ 

Yesaya 3:8

3:8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles,

Judah falls,

for their words and their actions offend the Lord; ⁴ 

they rebel against his royal authority. ⁵ 

Yesaya 14:12

14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,

O shining one, son of the dawn! ⁶ 

You have been cut down to the ground,

O conqueror ⁷  of the nations! ⁸ 

Yesaya 9:8

God’s Judgment Intensifies

9:8 ⁹ The sovereign master ¹⁰  decreed judgment ¹¹  on Jacob,

and it fell on Israel. ¹² 

Yesaya 30:13

30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.

You will be like a high wall

that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;

it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. ¹³ 

Yesaya 22:25

22:25 “At that time,” ¹⁴  says the Lord who commands armies, “the peg fastened into a solid place will come loose. It will be cut off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off.” ¹⁵  Indeed, ¹⁶  the Lord has spoken.

Yesaya 11:3

11:3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord. ¹⁷ 

He will not judge by mere appearances, ¹⁸ 

or make decisions on the basis of hearsay. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 28:13

28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like

meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ²⁰ 

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ²¹ 

and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ²² 

Yesaya 38:1

The Lord Hears Hezekiah’s Prayer

38:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. ²³  The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’”

Yesaya 11:4

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ²⁴ 

and make right decisions ²⁵  for the downtrodden of the earth. ²⁶ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ²⁷ 

and order the wicked to be executed. ²⁸ 

Yesaya 38:9

Hezekiah’s Song of Thanks

38:9 This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:

Yesaya 43:26

43:26 Remind me of what happened! Let’s debate!

You, prove to me that you are right! ²⁹ 

Yesaya 40:30

40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;

even strong young men clumsily stumble. ³⁰ 

Yesaya 37:7

37:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; ³¹  he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down ³²  with a sword in his own land.”’”

Yesaya 39:1

Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah

39:1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered.

Yesaya 28:7

28:7 Even these men ³³  stagger because of wine,

they stumble around because of beer –

priests and prophets stagger because of beer,

they are confused ³⁴  because of wine,

they stumble around because of beer;

they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, ³⁵ 

they totter while making legal decisions. ³⁶ 

Yesaya 21:9

21:9 Look what’s coming!

A charioteer,

a team of horses.” ³⁷ 

When questioned, he replies, ³⁸ 

“Babylon has fallen, fallen!

All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

Yesaya 31:3

31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;

their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.

The Lord will strike with ³⁹  his hand;

the one who helps will stumble

and the one being helped will fall.

Together they will perish. ⁴⁰ 

Yesaya 34:5

34:5 He says, ⁴¹  “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. ⁴² 

Look, it now descends on Edom, ⁴³ 

on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

Yesaya 46:2

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ⁴⁴ 

they themselves ⁴⁵  head off into captivity. ⁴⁶ 

Yesaya 14:8

14:8 The evergreens also rejoice over your demise, ⁴⁷ 

as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing, ⁴⁸ 

‘Since you fell asleep, ⁴⁹ 

no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’ ⁵⁰ 

Yesaya 29:21

29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, ⁵¹ 

who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate ⁵² 

and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. ⁵³ 

Yesaya 34:4

34:4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, ⁵⁴ 

the sky will roll up like a scroll;

all its stars will wither,

like a leaf withers and falls from a vine

or a fig withers and falls from a tree. ⁵⁵ 

Yesaya 37:10

37:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

Yesaya 22:19

22:19 I will remove you from ⁵⁶  your office;

you will be thrown down ⁵⁷  from your position.

Yesaya 32:19

32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed ⁵⁸ 

and the city is annihilated, ⁵⁹ 

Yesaya 33:4

33:4 Your plunder ⁶⁰  disappears as if locusts were eating it; ⁶¹ 

they swarm over it like locusts! ⁶² 

Yesaya 24:18

24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror

will fall into the pit; ⁶³ 

the one who climbs out of the pit,

will be trapped by the snare.

For the floodgates of the heavens ⁶⁴  are opened up ⁶⁵ 

and the foundations of the earth shake.

Yesaya 10:34

10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,

and mighty Lebanon will fall. ⁶⁶ 

Yesaya 14:4

14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ⁶⁷ 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ⁶⁸  has ceased!

Yesaya 23:8

23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre, ⁶⁹ 

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries ⁷⁰  of the earth?

Yesaya 24:21

The Lord Will Become King

24:21 At that time ⁷¹  the Lord will punish ⁷² 

the heavenly forces in the heavens ⁷³ 

and the earthly kings on the earth.

Yesaya 5:6

5:6 I will make it a wasteland;

no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ⁷⁴ 

and thorns and briers will grow there.

I will order the clouds

not to drop any rain on it.

Yesaya 8:14

8:14 He will become a sanctuary, ⁷⁵ 

but a stone that makes a person trip,

and a rock that makes one stumble –

to the two houses of Israel. ⁷⁶ 

He will become ⁷⁷  a trap and a snare

to the residents of Jerusalem. ⁷⁸ 

Yesaya 8:21

8:21 They will pass through the land ⁷⁹  destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, ⁸⁰  and they will curse their king and their God ⁸¹  as they look upward.

Yesaya 9:10

9:10 “The bricks have fallen,

but we will rebuild with chiseled stone;

the sycamore fig trees have been cut down,

but we will replace them with cedars.” ⁸² 

Yesaya 14:19

14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave

like a shoot that is thrown away. ⁸³ 

You lie among ⁸⁴  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ⁸⁵  the stones of the pit, ⁸⁶ 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ⁸⁷ 

Yesaya 24:22

24:22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, ⁸⁸ 

locked up in a prison,

and after staying there for a long time, ⁸⁹  they will be punished. ⁹⁰ 

Yesaya 43:17

43:17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction, ⁹¹ 

together with a mighty army.

They fell down, ⁹²  never to rise again;

they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:

Yesaya 51:17

51:17 Wake up! Wake up!

Get up, O Jerusalem!

You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you,

which was full of his anger! ⁹³ 

You drained dry

the goblet full of intoxicating wine. ⁹⁴ 

Yesaya 51:20

51:20 Your children faint;

they lie at the head of every street

like an antelope in a snare.

They are left in a stupor by the Lord’s anger,

by the battle cry of your God. ⁹⁵ 

Yesaya 63:6

63:6 I trampled nations in my anger,

I made them drunk ⁹⁶  in my rage,

I splashed their blood on the ground.” ⁹⁷ 

Yesaya 21:2

21:2 I have received a distressing message: ⁹⁸ 

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!” ⁹⁹ 

Yesaya 41:7

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ¹⁰⁰  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ¹⁰¹ 

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

Yesaya 47:6

47:6 I was angry at my people;

I defiled my special possession

and handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy; ¹⁰² 

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. ¹⁰³ 

Yesaya 47:11

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away. ¹⁰⁴ 

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it. ¹⁰⁵ 

[8:15]  ¹ tn Heb “over them” (so NASB); NCV “over this rock.”

[54:15]  ² tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.

[54:15]  ³ tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ’al) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “for their tongue and their deeds [are] to the Lord.”

[3:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “to rebel [against] the eyes of his majesty.” The word כָּבוֹד (kavod) frequently refers to the Lord’s royal splendor that is an outward manifestation of his authority as king.

[14:12]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר (helel ben-shakhar, “Helel son of Shachar”), which is probably a name for the morning star (Venus) or the crescent moon. See HALOT 245 s.v. הֵילֵל.

[14:12]  sn What is the background for the imagery in vv. 12-15? This whole section (vv. 4b-21) is directed to the king of Babylon, who is clearly depicted as a human ruler. Other kings of the earth address him in vv. 9ff., he is called “the man” in v. 16, and, according to vv. 19-20, he possesses a physical body. Nevertheless the language of vv. 12-15 has led some to see a dual referent in the taunt song. These verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv. 9-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology, including references to Helel son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High. Apparently these verses allude to a mythological story about a minor god (Helel son of Shachar) who tried to take over Zaphon, the mountain of the gods. His attempted coup failed and he was hurled down to the underworld. The king of Babylon is taunted for having similar unrealized delusions of grandeur. Some Christians have seen an allusion to the fall of Satan here, but this seems contextually unwarranted (see J. Martin, “Isaiah,” BKCOT, 1061).

[14:12]  ⁷ tn Some understand the verb to from חָלַשׁ (khalash, “to weaken”), but HALOT 324 s.v. II חלשׁ proposes a homonym here, meaning “to defeat.”

[14:12]  ⁸ sn In this line the taunting kings hint at the literal identity of the king, after likening him to the god Helel and a tree. The verb גָדַע (gada’, “cut down”) is used of chopping down trees in 9:10 and 10:33.

[9:8]  ⁹ sn The following speech (9:8-10:4) assumes that God has already sent judgment (see v. 9), but it also announces that further judgment is around the corner (10:1-4). The speech seems to describe a series of past judgments on the northern kingdom which is ready to intensify further in the devastation announced in 10:1-4. It may have been written prior to the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom in 734-733 b.c., or sometime between that invasion and the downfall of Samaria in 722 b.c. The structure of the speech displays four panels, each of which ends with the refrain, “Through all this, his anger did not subside; his hand remained outstretched” (9:12b; 17b; 21b; 10:4b): Panel I: (A) Description of past judgment (9:8); (B) Description of the people’s attitude toward past judgment (9:9-10); (C) Description of past judgment (9:11-12a); (D) Refrain (9:12b); Panel II: (A) Description of the people’s attitude toward past judgment (9:13); (B) Description of past judgment (9:14-17a); (C) Refrain (9:17b); Panel III: (A) Description of past judgment (9:18-21a); (B) Refrain (9:21b); Panel IV: (A) Woe oracle announcing future judgment (10:1-4a); (B) Refrain (10:4b).

[9:8]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 17 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sent a word” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “sends a message.”

[9:8]  ¹² tn The present translation assumes that this verse refers to judgment that had already fallen. Both verbs (perfects) are taken as indicating simple past; the vav (ו) on the second verb is understood as a simple vav conjunctive. Another option is to understand the verse as describing a future judgment (see 10:1-4). In this case the first verb is a perfect of certitude; the vav on the second verb is a vav consecutive.

[30:13]  ¹³ tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.

[22:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “In that day” (KJV).

[22:25]  ¹⁵ sn Eliakim’s authority, though seemingly secure, will eventually be removed, and with it his family’s prominence.

[22:25]  ¹⁶ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[11:3]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his smelling is in the fear of the Lord.” In Amos 5:21 the Hiphil of רוּחַ (ruakh, “smell”) carries the nuance of “smell with delight, get pleasure from.” There the Lord declares that he does not “smell with delight” (i.e., get pleasure from) Israel’s religious assemblies, which probably stand by metonymy for the incense offered during these festivals. In Isa 11:3 there is no sacrificial context to suggest such a use, but it is possible that “the fear of the Lord” is likened to incense. This coming king will get the same kind of delight from obeying (fearing) the Lord, as a deity does in the incense offered by worshipers. Some regard such an explanation as strained in this context, and prefer to omit this line from the text as a virtual dittograph of the preceding statement.

[11:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “by what appears to his eyes”; KJV “after the sight of his eyes”; NIV “by what he sees with his eyes.”

[11:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “by what is heard by his ears”; NRSV “by what his ears hear.”

[28:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.

[28:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.

[28:13]  ²² sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

[38:1]  ²³ tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying”; NRSV “became sick and was at the point of death.”

[11:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ²⁶ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

[11:4]  ²⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

[11:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

[43:26]  ²⁹ tn Heb “you, tell in order that you may be right”; NAB “prove your innocence.”

[40:30]  ³⁰ tn Heb “stumbling they stumble.” The verbal idea is emphasized by the infinitive absolute.

[37:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.

[37:7]  ³² tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”

[28:7]  ³³ tn Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.

[28:7]  ³⁴ tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.

[28:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in the seeing.”

[28:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”

[21:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”

[21:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).

[31:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”

[34:5]  ⁴¹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.

[34:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”

[34:5]  sn In v. 4 the “host of the heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13). As in 24:21, they are viewed here as opposing God and being defeated in battle.

[34:5]  ⁴³ sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.

[46:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ⁴⁵ tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ⁴⁶ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

[14:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “concerning you.”

[14:8]  ⁴⁸ 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]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “lay down” (in death); cf. NAB “laid to rest.”

[14:8]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “the [wood]cutter does not come up against us.”

[29:21]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”

[29:21]  ⁵² sn Legal disputes were resolved at the city gate, where the town elders met. See Amos 5:10.

[29:21]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and deprive by emptiness the innocent.”

[34:4]  ⁵⁴ tc Heb “and all the host of heaven will rot.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a inserts “and the valleys will be split open,” but this reading may be influenced by Mic 1:4. On the other hand, the statement, if original, could have been omitted by homoioarcton, a scribe’s eye jumping from the conjunction prefixed to “the valleys” to the conjunction prefixed to the verb “rot.”

[34:4]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “like the withering of a leaf from a vine, and like the withering from a fig tree.”

[22:19]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “I will push you away from.”

[22:19]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “he will throw you down.” The shift from the first to third person is peculiar and abrupt, but certainly not unprecedented in Hebrew poetry. See GKC 462 §144.p. The third person may be indefinite (“one will throw you down”), in which case the passive translation is justified.

[32:19]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and [?] when the forest descends.” The form וּבָרַד (uvarad) is often understood as an otherwise unattested denominative verb meaning “to hail” (HALOT 154 s.v. I ברד). In this case one might translate, “and it hails when the forest is destroyed” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV). Perhaps the text alludes to a powerful wind and hail storm that knocks down limbs and trees. Some prefer to emend the form to וְיָרַד (vÿyarad), “and it descends,” which provides better, though not perfect, symmetry with the parallel line (cf. NAB). Perhaps וּבָרַד should be dismissed as dittographic. In this case the statement (“when the forest descends”) lacks a finite verb and seems incomplete, but perhaps it is subordinate to v. 20.

[32:19]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and in humiliation the city is laid low.”

[33:4]  ⁶⁰ tn The pronoun is plural; the statement is addressed to the nations who have stockpiled plunder from their conquests of others.

[33:4]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and your plunder is gathered, the gathering of the locust.”

[33:4]  ⁶² tn Heb “like a swarm of locusts swarming on it.”

[24:18]  ⁶³ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:18]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”

[24:18]  ⁶⁵ sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).

[10:34]  ⁶⁶ tn The Hebrew text has, “and Lebanon, by/as [?] a mighty one, will fall.” The translation above takes the preposition בְּ (bet) prefixed to “mighty one” as indicating identity, “Lebanon, as a mighty one, will fall.” In this case “mighty one” describes Lebanon. (In Ezek 17:23 and Zech 11:2 the adjective is used of Lebanon’s cedars.) Another option is to take the preposition as indicating agency and interpret “mighty one” as a divine title (see Isa 33:21). One could then translate, “and Lebanon will fall by [the agency of] the Mighty One.”

[14:4]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ⁶⁸ tc The word in the Hebrew text (מַדְהֵבָה, madhevah) is unattested elsewhere and of uncertain meaning. Many (following the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) assume a dalet-resh (ד-ר) confusion and emend the form to מַרְהֵבָה (marhevah, “onslaught”). See HALOT 548 s.v. II *מִדָּה and HALOT 633 s.v. *מַרְהֵבָה.

[23:8]  ⁶⁹ tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.

[23:8]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”

[24:21]  ⁷¹ tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:21]  ⁷² tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”

[24:21]  ⁷³ tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13).

[5:6]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

[8:14]  ⁷⁵ tn Because the metaphor of protection (“sanctuary”) does not fit the negative mood that follows in vv. 14b-15, some contend that מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “sanctuary”) is probably a corruption of an original מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), a word that appears in the next line (cf. NAB and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:355-56). If the MT reading is retained (as in the above translation), the fact that Yahweh is a sanctuary wraps up the point of v. 13 and stands in contrast to God’s treatment of those who rebel against him (the rest of v. 14).

[8:14]  ⁷⁶ sn The two “houses” of Israel (= the patriarch Jacob) are the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

[8:14]  ⁷⁷ tn These words are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. וְהָיָה (vÿhayah, “and he will be”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.

[8:14]  ⁷⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:21]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “he will pass through it.” The subject of the collective singular verb is the nation. (See the preceding note.) The immediately preceding context supplies no antecedent for “it” (a third feminine singular suffix in the Hebrew text); the suffix may refer to the land, which would be a reasonable referent with a verb of motion. Note also that אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) does appear at the beginning of the next verse.

[8:21]  ⁸⁰ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[8:21]  ⁸¹ tn Or “gods” (NAB, NRSV, CEV).

[9:10]  ⁸² sn Though judgment (see v. 8) had taken away the prosperity they did have (symbolized by the bricks and sycamore fig trees), they arrogantly expected the future to bring even greater prosperity (symbolized by the chiseled stone and cedars).

[14:19]  ⁸³ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

[14:19]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ⁸⁶ tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

[14:19]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[24:22]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “they will be gathered [in] a gathering [as] a prisoner in a cistern.” It is tempting to eliminate אֲסֵפָה (’asefah, “a gathering”) as dittographic or as a gloss, but sound repetition is one of the main characteristics of the style of this section of the chapter.

[24:22]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “and after a multitude of days.”

[24:22]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “visited” (so KJV, ASV). This verse can mean to visit for good or for evil. The translation assumes the latter, based on v. 21a. However, BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד B.Niph.2 suggests the meaning “visit graciously” here, in which case one might translate “they will be released.”

[43:17]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “led out chariots and horses.” The words “to destruction” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The verse refers to the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea.

[43:17]  ⁹² tn Heb “lay down”; NAB “lie prostrate together”; CEV “lie dead”; NRSV “they lie down.”

[51:17]  ⁹³ tn Heb “[you] who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his anger.”

[51:17]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “the goblet, the cup [that causes] staggering, you drank, you drained.”

[51:20]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “those who are full of the anger of the Lord, the shout [or “rebuke”] of your God.”

[63:6]  ⁹⁶ sn See Isa 49:26 and 51:23 for similar imagery.

[63:6]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “and I brought down to the ground their juice.” “Juice” refers to their blood (see v. 3).

[21:2]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

[21:2]  ⁹⁹ sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

[41:7]  ¹⁰⁰ tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[47:6]  ¹⁰² tn Or “compassion.”

[47:6]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”

[47:11]  ¹⁰⁴ 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]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”