6:13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, 1 like one of the large sacred trees 2 or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. 3 That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” 4
“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,
by my strategy that I devised.
I invaded the territory of nations, 5
and looted their storehouses.
Like a mighty conqueror, 6 I brought down rulers. 7
24:2 Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, 9
the master as well as the servant, 10
the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, 11
the seller as well as the buyer, 12
the borrower as well as the lender, 13
the creditor as well as the debtor. 14
30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare
and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven days, 20
when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones 21
and heals their severe wound. 22
31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:
“The Lord will be like a growling lion,
like a young lion growling over its prey. 23
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling. 24
In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. 25
43:10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,
“my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may consider 26 and believe in me,
and understand that I am he.
No god was formed before me,
and none will outlive me. 27
44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; 28
he marks out an outline of its form; 29
he scrapes 30 it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form, 31
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine. 32
44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; 33
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it. 34
49:5 So now the Lord says,
the one who formed me from birth 35 to be his servant –
he did this 36 to restore Jacob to himself,
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
and I will be honored 37 in the Lord’s sight,
for my God is my source of strength 38 –
53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, 39
he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, 40
because he willingly submitted 41 to death
and was numbered with the rebels,
when he lifted up the sin of many
and intervened 42 on behalf of the rebels.”
57:13 When you cry out for help, let your idols 43 help you!
The wind blows them all away, 44
a breeze carries them away. 45
But the one who looks to me for help 46 will inherit the land
and will have access to 47 my holy mountain.”
1 tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”
2 tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).
3 tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.
4 tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.
5 tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”
6 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).
7 tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.
9 tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”
13 tn Heb “and it will be like the people, like the priest.”
14 tn Heb “like the servant, like his master.”
15 tn Heb “like the female servant, like her mistress.”
16 tn Heb “like the buyer, like the seller.”
17 tn Heb “like the lender, like the borrower.”
18 tn Heb “like the creditor, just as the one to whom he lends.”
17 tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
18 tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”
19 tn Or “the ones perishing.”
20 tn Or “the ones driven into.”
21 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
21 sn Light here symbolizes restoration of divine blessing and prosperity. The number “seven” is used symbolically to indicate intensity. The exact meaning of the phrase “the light of seven days” is uncertain; it probably means “seven times brighter” (see the parallel line).
22 tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB).
23 tn Heb “the injury of his wound.” The joining of synonyms emphasizes the severity of the wound. Another option is to translate, “the wound of his blow.” In this case the pronominal suffix might refer to the Lord, not the people, yielding the translation, “the wound which he inflicted.”
25 tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.
26 tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”
27 tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.
29 tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
30 tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”
33 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
34 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
35 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
36 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
37 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”
37 tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”
38 tn Or perhaps, “them.”
41 tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).
42 tn The words “he did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct of purpose is subordinated to the previous statement.
43 tn The vav (ו) + imperfect is translated here as a result clause; one might interpret it as indicating purpose, “and so I might be honored.”
44 tn Heb “and my God is [perhaps, “having been”] my strength.” The disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) is interpreted here as indicating a causal circumstantial clause.
45 tn Scholars have debated the precise meaning of the term רַבִּים (rabbim) that occurs five times in this passage (Isa 52:14, 15; 53:11, 12 [2x]). Its two broad categories of translation are “much”/“many” and “great” (HALOT 1171-72 s.v. I רַב). Unlike other Hebrew terms for might or strength, this term is linked with numbers or abundance. In all sixteen uses outside of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (articular and plural) it signifies an inclusive meaning: “the majority” or “the multitude” (J. Jeremias, TDNT 6:536-37). This term occurs in parallelism with עֲצוּמִים (’atsumim), which normally signifies “numerous” or “large” or “powerful” (through large numbers). Like רַבִּים (rabbim), it refers to greatness in numbers (cf. Deut 4:38; 7:1; 9:1; 11:34). It emphasizes the multitudes with whom the Servant will share the spoil of his victory. As J. Olley wrote: “Yahweh has won the victory and vindicates his Servant, giving to him many subservient people, together with their spoils. These numerous peoples in turn receive blessing, sharing in the “peace” resulting from Yahweh’s victory and the Servant’s suffering” (John W. Olley, “‘The Many’: How Is Isa 53,12a to Be Understood,” Bib 68 [1987]: 330-56).
46 sn The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.
47 tn Heb “because he laid bare his life”; traditionally, ASV “because he (+ hath KJV) poured out his soul (life NIV) unto death.”
48 tn The Hiphil of פָּגַע (paga’) can mean “cause to attack” (v. 6), “urge, plead verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25), or “intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16). Perhaps the third nuance fits best here, for military imagery is employed in the first two lines of the verse.
49 tn The Hebrew text has קִבּוּצַיִךְ (qibbutsayikh, “your gatherings”), an otherwise unattested noun from the verbal root קָבַץ (qavats, “gather”). Perhaps this alludes to their religious assemblies and by metonymy to their rituals. Since idolatry is a prominent theme in the context, some understand this as a reference to a collection of idols. The second half of the verse also favors this view.
50 tn Heb “all of them a wind lifts up.”
51 tn Heb “a breath takes [them] away.”
52 tn Or “seeks refuge in me.” “Seeking refuge” is a metonymy for “being loyal to.”
53 tn Heb “possess, own.” The point seems to be that he will have free access to God’s presence, as if God’s temple mount were his personal possession.