Isaiah 1:25

1:25 I will attack you; ¹ 

I will purify your metal with flux. ² 

I will remove all your slag. ³ 

Isaiah 21:13

The Lord Will Judge Arabia

21:13 Here is a message about Arabia:

In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night,

you Dedanite caravans.

Isaiah 26:16

26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you;

they uttered incantations because of your discipline. ⁴ 

Isaiah 42:9

42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; ⁵ 

now I announce new events.

Before they begin to occur,

I reveal them to you.” ⁶ 

Isaiah 43:26

43:26 Remind me of what happened! Let’s debate!

You, prove to me that you are right! ⁷ 

Isaiah 57:12

57:12 I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds, ⁸ 

but they will not help you.

Isaiah 60:1

Zion’s Future Splendor

60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!

The splendor ⁹  of the Lord shines on you!

[1:25]  ¹ tn Heb “turn my hand against you.” The second person pronouns in vv. 25-26 are feminine singular. Personified Jerusalem is addressed. The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack,” in Ps 81:15 HT (81:14 ET); Ezek 38:12; Am 1:8; Zech 13:7. In Jer 6:9 it is used of gleaning grapes.

[1:25]  ² tn Heb “I will purify your dross as [with] flux.” “Flux” refers here to minerals added to the metals in a furnace to prevent oxides from forming. For this interpretation of II בֹּר (bor), see HALOT 153 s.v. II בֹּר and 750 s.v. סִיג.

[1:25]  ³ sn The metaphor comes from metallurgy; slag is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.

[26:16]  ⁴ tn The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and BDB 823 s.v.) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.

[42:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”

[42:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).

[43:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you, tell in order that you may be right”; NAB “prove your innocence.”

[57:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “I, I will declare your righteousness and your deeds.”

[60:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).