46:6 But even the swiftest cannot get away.
Even the strongest cannot escape. 1
There in the north by the Euphrates River
they stumble and fall in defeat. 2
10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,
or to fall among those who have been killed. 3
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. 4
19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, 5
brothers will fight with each other,
as will neighbors,
cities, and kingdoms. 6
1 tn The translation assumes that the adjectives with the article are functioning as superlatives in this context (cf. GKC 431 §133.g). It also assumes that אַל (’al) with the jussive is expressing here an emphatic negative rather than a negative wish (cf. GKC 317 §107.p and compare the usage in Ps 50:3).
2 tn Heb “they stumble and fall.” However, the verbs here are used of a fatal fall, of a violent death in battle (see BDB 657 s.v. נָפַל Qal.2.a), and a literal translation might not be understood by some readers.
3 tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.
4 tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”
5 tn Heb I will provoke Egypt against Egypt” (NAB similar).
6 tn Heb “and they will fight, a man against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” Civil strife will extend all the way from the domestic level to the provincial arena.