7:2 It was reported to the family 1 of David, “Syria has allied with 2 Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 3
44:14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress 4 or an oak.
He gets 5 trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar 6 and the rain makes it grow.
37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 7
‘With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions, 8
its thickest woods.
44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; 9
shout out, you subterranean regions 10 of the earth.
O mountains, give a joyful shout;
you too, O forest and all your trees! 11
For the Lord protects 12 Jacob;
he reveals his splendor through Israel. 13
1 tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.
2 tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”
3 tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.
4 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
5 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
6 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (’oren) to אֶרֶז (’erez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”
7 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
8 tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”
10 tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”
11 tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.
12 tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”
13 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
14 tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”