14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave
like a shoot that is thrown away. 1
You lie among 2 the slain,
among those who have been slashed by the sword,
among those headed for 3 the stones of the pit, 4
as if you were a mangled corpse. 5
21:15 For they flee from the swords –
from the drawn sword
and from the battle-ready bow
and from the severity of the battle.
22:2 The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;
the town is filled with revelry. 6
Your slain were not cut down by the sword;
they did not die in battle. 7
31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made; 8
a sword not made by humankind will destroy them. 9
They will run away from this sword 10
and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.
1 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.”
2 tn Heb “are clothed with.”
3 tn Heb “those going down to.”
4 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.
5 tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.
6 tn Heb “the boisterous town.” The phrase is parallel to “the noisy city” in the preceding line.
7 sn Apparently they died from starvation during the siege that preceded the final conquest of the city. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:409.
11 tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”
12 tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”
13 tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”