Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ¹  of the king of Assyria ²  toward them, so that he assisted ³  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Isaiah 14:25

14:25 I will break Assyria ⁴  in my land,

I will trample them ⁵  underfoot on my hills.

Their yoke will be removed from my people,

the burden will be lifted from their shoulders. ⁶ 

Micah 5:5-6

5:5 He will give us peace. ⁷ 

Should the Assyrians try to invade our land

and attempt to set foot in our fortresses, ⁸ 

we will send ⁹  against them seven ¹⁰  shepherd-rulers, ¹¹ 

make that eight commanders. ¹² 

5:6 They will rule ¹³  the land of Assyria with the sword,

the land of Nimrod ¹⁴  with a drawn sword. ¹⁵ 

Our king ¹⁶  will rescue us from the Assyrians

should they attempt to invade our land

and try to set foot in our territory.

[6:22]  ¹ tn Heb “heart.”

[6:22]  ² sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

[6:22]  ³ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

[14:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

[14:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

[14:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

[5:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and this one will be peace”; ASV “and this man shall be our peace” (cf. Eph 2:14).

[5:5]  ⁸ tc Some prefer to read “in our land,” emending the text to בְּאַדְמָתֵנוּ (bÿ’admatenu).

[5:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “raise up.”

[5:5]  ¹⁰ sn The numbers seven and eight here symbolize completeness and emphasize that Israel will have more than enough military leadership and strength to withstand the Assyrian advance.

[5:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[5:5]  ¹² tn Heb “and eight leaders of men.”

[5:6]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “break”; or “defeat.”

[5:6]  ¹⁴ sn According to Gen 10:8-12, Nimrod, who was famous as a warrior and hunter, founded Assyria.

[5:6]  ¹⁵ tc The MT reads “in her gates,” but the text should be emended to בַּפְּתִיחָה (baptikhah, “with a drawn sword”).

[5:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the coming king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.