Isaiah 1:29

1:29 Indeed, they ¹  will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you ²  find so desirable;

you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards ³ 

where you choose to worship.

Isaiah 2:12-21

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ⁴ 

for ⁵  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

2:13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,

that are so high and mighty,

for all the oaks of Bashan; ⁶ 

2:14 for all the tall mountains,

for all the high hills, ⁷ 

2:15 for every high tower,

for every fortified wall,

2:16 for all the large ships, ⁸ 

for all the impressive ⁹  ships. ¹⁰ 

2:17 Proud men will be humiliated,

arrogant men will be brought low; ¹¹ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ¹² 

in that day.

2:18 The worthless idols will be completely eliminated. ¹³ 

2:19 They ¹⁴  will go into caves in the rocky cliffs

and into holes in the ground, ¹⁵ 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ¹⁶ 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ¹⁷ 

2:20 At that time ¹⁸  men will throw

their silver and gold idols,

which they made for themselves to worship, ¹⁹ 

into the caves where rodents and bats live, ²⁰ 

2:21 so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs

and the openings under the rocky overhangs, ²¹ 

trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord ²² 

and his royal splendor,

when he rises up to terrify the earth. ²³ 

Isaiah 17:8

17:8 They will no longer trust in ²⁴  the altars their hands made,

or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made. ²⁵ 

Hosea 14:8

14:8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do ²⁶  with idols anymore!

I will answer him and care for him.

I am like ²⁷  a luxuriant cypress tree; ²⁸ 

your fruitfulness comes from me! ²⁹ 

Micah 5:13-14

5:13 I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst;

you will no longer worship what your own hands made.

5:14 I will uproot your images of Asherah ³⁰  from your midst,

and destroy your idols. ³¹ 

Zechariah 13:2

13:2 And also on that day,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will remove ³²  the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

[1:29]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text (and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) has the third person here, though a few Hebrew mss (and Targums) read the second person, which is certainly more consistent with the following context. The third person form is the more difficult reading and probably original. This disagreement in person has caused some to emend the first verb (3rd plural) to a 2nd plural form (followed by most English translations). The BHS textual apparatus suggests that the 2nd plural form be read even though there is only sparse textual evidence. LXX, Syriac, and the Vulgate change all the 2nd person verbs in 1:29-31 to 3rd person verbs. It is likely that the change to a 2nd person form represents an attempt at syntactical harmonization (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 10). The abrupt change from 3rd person to 2nd person may have been intentional for rhetorical impact (GKC 462 §144.p). The rapid change from exclamation (they did!) to reproach (you desired!) might be regarded as a rhetorical figure focusing attention on the addressees and their conditions (de Waard, 10; E. König, Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, 239). This use of the 3rd person could also be understood as an impersonal third person: “one will be ashamed” (de Waard, 10). In v. 29 the prophet continues his description of the sinners (v. 28), but then suddenly makes a transition to direct address (switching from 3^rd to 2^nd person) in the middle of his sentence.

[1:29]  ² tn The second person pronouns in vv. 29-30 are masculine plural, indicating that the rebellious sinners (v. 28) are addressed.

[1:29]  ³ tn Or “gardens” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “groves.”

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:13]  ⁶ sn The cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan were well-known for their size and prominence. They make apt symbols here for powerful men who think of themselves as prominent and secure.

[2:14]  ⁷ sn The high mountains and hills symbolize the apparent security of proud men, as do the high tower and fortified wall of v. 15.

[2:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[2:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “desirable”; NAB, NIV “stately”; NRSV “beautiful.”

[2:16]  ¹⁰ tn On the meaning of this word, which appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 41-42.

[2:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the pride of men will be brought down, and the arrogance of men will be brought low.” As in v. 11, the repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:17]  ¹² tn Or “elevated”; NCV “praised”; CEV “honored.”

[2:18]  ¹³ tc The verb “pass away” is singular in the Hebrew text, despite the plural subject (“worthless idols”) that precedes. The verb should be emended to a plural; the final vav (ו) has been accidentally omitted by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the immediately following form).

[2:19]  ¹⁴ tn The identity of the grammatical subject is unclear. The “idols” could be the subject; they will “go” into the caves and holes when the idolaters throw them there in their haste to escape God’s judgment (see vv. 20-21). The picture of the idols, which represent the foreign deities worshiped by the people, fleeing from the Lord would be highly polemical and fit the overall mood of the chapter. However it seems more likely that the idolaters themselves are the subject, for v. 10 uses similar language in sarcastically urging them to run from judgment.

[2:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “dust”; ASV “into the holes of the earth.”

[2:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:19]  ¹⁷ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men.

[2:20]  ¹⁸ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[2:20]  ¹⁹ tn Or “bow down to.”

[2:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to the shrews and to the bats.” On the meaning of חֲפַרְפָּרָה (khafarparah, “shrew”), see HALOT 341 s.v. חֲפַרְפָּרָה. The BHS text as it stands (לַחְפֹּר פֵּרוֹת, perot lakhpor), makes no sense. Based on Theodotion’s transliteration and a similar reading in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, most scholars suggest that the MT mistakenly divided a noun (a hapax legomenon) that should be translated “moles,” “shrews,” or “rodents.”

[2:21]  ²¹ sn The precise point of vv. 20-21 is not entirely clear. Are they taking the idols into their hiding places with them, because they are so attached to their man-made images? Or are they discarding the idols along the way as they retreat into the darkest places they can find? In either case it is obvious that the gods are incapable of helping them.

[2:21]  ²² tn Heb “from the dread of the Lord,” that is, from the dread that he produces in the objects of his judgment.” The words “trying to escape” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:21]  ²³ tn Or “land.” It is not certain if these verses are describing the judgment of Judah (see vv. 6-9) or a more universal judgment on all proud men. Almost all English versions translate “earth,” taking this to refer to universal judgment.

[17:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he will not gaze toward.”

[17:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and that which his fingers made he will not see, the Asherah poles and the incense altars.”

[14:8]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew expression מַה־לִּי עוֹד (mah-li ’od) is a formula of repudiation/emphatic denial that God has anything in common with idols: “I want to have nothing to do with […] any more!” Cf., e.g., Judg 11:12; 2 Sam 16:10; 19:23; 1 Kgs 17:18; 2 Kgs 3:13; 2 Chr 35:21; Jer 2:18; Ps 50:16; BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d.(c).

[14:8]  ²⁷ tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity, as in the majority of English versions (including KJV).

[14:8]  ²⁸ tn Cf. KJV “a green fir tree”; NIV, NCV “a green pine tree”; NRSV “an evergreen cypress.”

[14:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your fruit is found in me”; NRSV “your faithfulness comes from me.”

[5:14]  ³⁰ tn Or “Asherah poles.”

[5:14]  ³¹ tn The MT reads “your cities,” but many emend the text to צִרֶיךָ (tsirekha, “your images”) or עֲצַבֶּיךָ (’atsbbekha, “your idols”).

[13:2]  ³² tn Heb “cut off” (so NRSV); NAB “destroy”; NIV “banish.”