17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, 1
those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. 2
The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, 3
those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. 4
16:11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, 5
my inner being sighs 6 for Kir Hareseth. 7
51:15 I am the Lord your God,
who churns up the sea so that its waves surge.
The Lord who commands armies is his name!
59:11 We all growl like bears,
we coo mournfully like doves;
we wait for deliverance, 8 but there is none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
22:2 The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;
the town is filled with revelry. 9
Your slain were not cut down by the sword;
they did not die in battle. 10
1 tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
2 tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”
3 tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.
4 tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”
5 tn Heb “so my intestines sigh for Moab like a harp.” The word מֵעַי (me’ay, “intestines”) is used here of the seat of the emotions. English idiom requires the word “heart.” The point of the comparison to a harp is not entirely clear. Perhaps his sighs of mourning resemble a harp in sound, or his constant sighing is like the repetitive strumming of a harp.
6 tn The verb is supplied in the translation; “sighs” in the preceding line does double duty in the parallel structure.
7 tn Heb “Kir Heres” (so ASV, NRSV, TEV, CEV), a variant name for “Kir Hareseth” (see v. 7).
9 tn See the note at v. 9.
13 tn Heb “the boisterous town.” The phrase is parallel to “the noisy city” in the preceding line.
14 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.