Isaiah 1:12

1:12 When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this –

animals trampling on my courtyards? ¹ 

Isaiah 27:6

27:6 The time is coming when Jacob will take root; ² 

Israel will blossom and grow branches.

The produce ³  will fill the surface of the world. ⁴ 

Isaiah 50:6

50:6 I offered my back to those who attacked, ⁵ 

my jaws to those who tore out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from insults and spitting.

Isaiah 54:8

54:8 In a burst ⁶  of anger I rejected you ⁷  momentarily,

but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”

says your protector, ⁸  the Lord.

Isaiah 65:3

65:3 These people continually and blatantly offend me ⁹ 

as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards ¹⁰ 

and burn incense on brick altars. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 13:8

13:8 They panic –

cramps and pain seize hold of them

like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.

They look at one another in astonishment;

their faces are flushed red. ¹² 

Isaiah 14:21

14:21 Prepare to execute ¹³  his sons

for the sins their ancestors have committed. ¹⁴ 

They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,

or fill the surface of the world with cities.” ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 19:8

19:8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,

all those who cast a fishhook into the river,

and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 23:17

23:17 At the end of seventy years ¹⁷  the Lord will revive ¹⁸  Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 25:7

25:7 On this mountain he will swallow up

the shroud that is over all the peoples, ²⁰ 

the woven covering that is over all the nations; ²¹ 

Isaiah 36:9

36:9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. ²² 

Isaiah 50:7

50:7 But the sovereign Lord helps me,

so I am not humiliated.

For that reason I am steadfastly resolved; ²³ 

I know I will not be put to shame.

Isaiah 18:2

18:2 that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, ²⁴ 

to a people that are feared far and wide, ²⁵ 

to a nation strong and victorious, ²⁶ 

whose land rivers divide. ²⁷ 

[1:12]  ¹ tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.

[27:6]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “the coming ones, let Jacob take root.” הַבָּאִים (habba’im, “the coming ones”) should probably be emended to יָמִים בָאִים (yamim va’im, “days [are] coming”) or בְּיָמִים הַבָּאִים (biyamim habba’im, “in the coming days”).

[27:6]  ³ tn Heb “fruit” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[27:6]  ⁴ sn This apparently refers to a future population explosion. See 26:18.

[50:6]  ³ tn Or perhaps, “who beat [me].”

[54:8]  ⁴ tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”

[54:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”

[54:8]  ⁶ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[65:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the people who provoke me to anger to my face continually.”

[65:3]  ⁶ tn Or “gardens” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[65:3]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps, “on tiles.”

[13:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.

[14:21]  ⁷ tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”

[14:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”

[14:21]  ⁹ sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.

[19:8]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps, “will disappear”; cf. TEV “will be useless.”

[23:17]  ⁹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[23:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “visit [with favor]” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “will deal with.”

[23:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and she will return to her [prostitute’s] wages and engage in prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.”

[25:7]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads, “the face of the shroud, the shroud over all the nations.” Some emend the second הַלּוֹט (hallot) to a passive participle הַלּוּט (hallut, “that is wrapped”).

[25:7]  ¹¹ sn The point of the imagery is unclear. Perhaps the shroud/covering referred to was associated with death in some way (see v. 8).

[36:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”

[50:7]  ¹² tn Heb “Therefore I set my face like flint.”

[18:2]  ¹³ tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (mÿmushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”

[18:2]  ¹⁵ tn Once more the precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. The expression קַו־קָו (qav-qav) is sometimes related to a proposed Arabic cognate and taken to mean “strength” (see BDB 876 II קַו). Others, on the basis of Isa 28:10, 13, understand the form as gibberish (literally, “kav, kav”) and take it to be a reference to this nation’s strange, unknown language. The form מְבוּסָה (mÿvusah) appears to be derived from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”), so lexicographers suggest the meaning “trampling” or “subjugation,” i.e., a nation that subdues others. See BDB 101 s.v. בּוּס and HALOT 541 s.v. מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ¹⁶ tn The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (baza’), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. BDB 102 s.v. suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; HALOT 117 s.v., citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”