Isaiah 1:26

1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days. ¹ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Isaiah 14:31

14:31 Wail, O city gate!

Cry out, O city!

Melt with fear, ²  all you Philistines!

For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,

and there are no stragglers in its ranks. ³ 

Isaiah 19:18

19:18 At that time five cities ⁴  in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun. ⁵ 

Isaiah 22:2

22:2 The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;

the town is filled with revelry. ⁶ 

Your slain were not cut down by the sword;

they did not die in battle. ⁷ 

Isaiah 26:1

Judah Will Celebrate

26:1 At that time ⁸  this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city!

The Lord’s ⁹  deliverance, like walls and a rampart, makes it secure. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 27:10

27:10 For the fortified city ¹¹  is left alone;

it is a deserted settlement

and abandoned like the desert.

Calves ¹²  graze there;

they lie down there

and eat its branches bare. ¹³ 

Isaiah 32:14

32:14 For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded ¹⁴  city is abandoned.

Hill ¹⁵  and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited. ¹⁶ 

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 60:14

60:14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;

all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.

They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ¹⁸ 

[1:26]  ¹ tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning; and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.

[14:31]  ² tn Or “despair” (see HALOT 555 s.v. מוג). The form נָמוֹג (namog) should be taken here as an infinitive absolute functioning as an imperative. See GKC 199-200 §72.v.

[14:31]  ³ tn Heb “and there is no one going alone in his appointed places.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. בּוֹדֵד (boded) appears to be a participle from בָּדַד (badad, “be separate”; see BDB 94 s.v. בָּדַד). מוֹעָד (mo’ad) may mean “assembly” or, by extension, “multitude” (see HALOT 558 s.v. *מוֹעָד), but the referent of the third masculine pronominal suffix attached to the noun is unclear. It probably refers to the “nation” mentioned in the next line.

[19:18]  ³ sn The significance of the number “five” in this context is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:376-77.

[19:18]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has עִיר הַהֶרֶס (’ir haheres, “City of Destruction”; cf. NASB, NIV) but this does not fit the positive emphasis of vv. 18-22. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and some medieval Hebrew mss read עִיר הָחֶרֶס (’ir hakheres, “City of the Sun,” i.e., Heliopolis). This reading also finds support from Symmachus’ Greek version, the Targum, and the Vulgate. See HALOT 257 s.v. חֶרֶס and HALOT 355 s.v. II חֶרֶס.

[22:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the boisterous town.” The phrase is parallel to “the noisy city” in the preceding line.

[22:2]  ⁵ sn Apparently they died from starvation during the siege that preceded the final conquest of the city. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:409.

[26:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “In that day” (so KJV).

[26:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “deliverance he makes walls and a rampart.”

[27:10]  ⁶ sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.

[27:10]  ⁷ tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.

[27:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.

[32:14]  ⁷ tn Or “noisy” (NAB, NIV, NCV).

[32:14]  ⁸ tn Hebrew עֹפֶל (’ofel), probably refers here to a specific area within the city of Jerusalem. See HALOT 861 s.v. II עֹפֶל.

[32:14]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text has בְעַד מְעָרוֹת (vÿ’ad mÿ’arot). The force of בְעַד, which usually means “behind, through, round about,” or “for the benefit of,” is uncertain here. HALOT 616 s.v. *מְעָרָה takes מְעָרוֹת (mÿ’arot) as a homonym of “cave” and define it here as “cleared field.” Despite these lexical problems, the general point of the statement seems clear – the city will be uninhabited.

[32:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks.”

[60:14]  ⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.