Isaiah 17:12

17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead,

those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves.

The people making such an uproar are as good as dead,

those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves.

Isaiah 28:2

28:2 Look, the sovereign master sends a strong, powerful one.

With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm,

with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm,

he will knock that crown to the ground with his hand. 10 


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.

tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”

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.

tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”

tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”

tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”

tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”

tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.

10 tn Or “by [his] power.”