10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,
and mighty Lebanon will fall. 1
25:12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your 2 walls) 3 he will knock down,
he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground. 4
64:1 (63:19b) 5 If only you would tear apart the sky 6 and come down!
The mountains would tremble 7 before you!
1 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.”
2 sn Moab is addressed.
3 tn Heb “a fortification, the high point of your walls.”
4 tn Heb “he will bring [it] down, he will make [it] touch the ground, even to the dust.”
3 sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
4 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
5 tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.