Isaiah 1:21

Purifying Judgment

1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city

has become a prostitute! ¹ 

She was once a center of ²  justice,

fairness resided in her,

but now only murderers. ³ 

Isaiah 64:10

64:10 Your chosen ⁴  cities have become a desert;

Zion has become a desert,

Jerusalem ⁵  is a desolate ruin.

Isaiah 11:16

11:16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria

for the remnant of his people, ⁶ 

just as there was for Israel,

when ⁷  they went up from the land of Egypt.

Isaiah 14:24

14:24 ⁸ The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:

“Be sure of this:

Just as I have intended, so it will be;

just as I have planned, it will happen.

Isaiah 50:11

50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire

and who equip yourselves with ⁹  flaming arrows, ¹⁰ 

walk ¹¹  in the light ¹²  of the fire you started

and among the flaming arrows you ignited! ¹³ 

This is what you will receive from me: ¹⁴ 

you will lie down in a place of pain. ¹⁵ 

[1:21]  ¹ tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.

[1:21]  ² tn Heb “filled with.”

[1:21]  ³ tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.

[64:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”

[64:10]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “and there will be a highway for the remnant of his people who remain, from Assyria.”

[11:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the day” (so KJV).

[14:24]  ¹⁰ sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.

[50:11]  ¹³ tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).

[50:11]  ¹⁴ tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.

[50:11]  ¹⁵ tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.

[50:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).

[50:11]  ¹⁷ sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.

[50:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[50:11]  ¹⁹ sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.