Isaiah 1:7-8

1:7 Your land is devastated,

your cities burned with fire.

Right before your eyes your crops

are being destroyed by foreign invaders. ¹ 

They leave behind devastation and destruction. ² 

1:8 Daughter Zion ³  is left isolated,

like a hut in a vineyard,

or a shelter in a cucumber field;

she is a besieged city. ⁴ 

Isaiah 37:3-4

37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ⁵  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ⁶  and humiliation, ⁷  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ⁸  37:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. ⁹  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ¹⁰  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ¹¹ 

Nehemiah 1:2-3

1:2 Hanani, who was one of my relatives, ¹²  along with some of the men from Judah, came to me, ¹³  and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. ¹⁴ 

1:3 They said to me, “The remnant that remains from the exile there in the province are experiencing considerable ¹⁵  adversity and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem lies breached, and its gates have been burned down!” ¹⁶ 

Zephaniah 3:12

3:12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, ¹⁷ 

and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁸ 

Zechariah 13:8-9

13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord,

that two-thirds of the people ¹⁹  in it will be cut off and die,

but one-third will be left in it. ²⁰ 

13:9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;

I will refine them like silver is refined

and will test them like gold is tested.

They will call on my name and I will answer;

I will say, ‘These are my people,’

and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” ²¹ 

Matthew 24:21-22

24:21 For then there will be great suffering ²²  unlike anything that has happened ²³  from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “As for your land, before you foreigners are devouring it.”

[1:7]  ² tn Heb “and [there is] devastation like an overthrow by foreigners.” The comparative preposition כְּ (kÿ, “like, as”) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the land has all the earmarks of a destructive foreign invasion because that is what has indeed happened. One could paraphrase, “it is desolate as it can only be when foreigners destroy.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x. Many also prefer to emend “foreigners” here to “Sodom,” though there is no external attestation for such a reading in the mss or ancient versions. Such an emendation finds support from the following context (vv. 9-10) and usage of the preceding noun מַהְפֵּכָה (mahpekhah, “overthrow”). In its five other uses, this noun is associated with the destruction of Sodom. If one accepts the emendation, then one might translate, “the devastation resembles the destruction of Sodom.”

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “daughter of Zion” (so KJV, NASB, NIV). The genitive is appositional, identifying precisely which daughter is in view. By picturing Zion as a daughter, the prophet emphasizes her helplessness and vulnerability before the enemy.

[1:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a city besieged.” Unlike the preceding two comparisons, which are purely metaphorical, this third one identifies the reality of Israel’s condition. In this case the comparative preposition, as in v. 7b, has the force, “in every way like,” indicating that all the earmarks of a siege are visible because that is indeed what is taking place. The verb form in MT is Qal passive participle of נָצַר (natsar, “guard”), but since this verb is not often used of a siege (see BDB 666 s.v. I נָצַר), some prefer to repoint the form as a Niphal participle from II צוּר (tsur, “besiege”). However, the latter is not attested elsewhere in the Niphal (see BDB 848 s.v. II צוּר).

[37:3]  ⁵ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).

[37:3]  ⁶ tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”

[37:3]  ⁷ tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”

[37:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”

[37:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

[37:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

[37:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

[1:2]  ¹² tn Heb “brothers.”

[1:2]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “to me”; these words were supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[1:2]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “great.”

[1:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “have been burned with fire” (so also in Neh 2:17). The expression “burned with fire” is redundant in contemporary English; the translation uses “burned down” for stylistic reasons.

[3:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “needy and poor people.” The terms often refer to a socioeconomic group, but here they may refer to those who are humble in a spiritual sense.

[3:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.”

[13:8]  ¹⁹ tn The words “of the people” are supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).

[13:8]  ²⁰ sn The fractions mentioned here call to mind the affliction of God’s people described by Ezekiel, though Ezekiel referred to his own times whereas Zechariah is looking forward to a future eschatological age. Ezekiel spoke of cutting his hair at God’s command (Ezek 5:1-4) and then of burning a third of it, striking a third with a sword, and scattering the rest. From this last third a few hairs would survive to become the nucleus of a new Israel. It is this “third” Zechariah speaks of (v. 9), the remnant who will be purified and reclaimed as God’s covenant people.

[13:9]  ²¹ sn The expression I will say ‘It is my people,’ and they will say ‘the Lord is my God’ is reminiscent of the restoration of Israel predicted by Hosea, who said that those who had been rejected as God’s people would be reclaimed and once more become his sons and daughters (Hos 2:23).

[24:21]  ²² tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”

[24:21]  ²³ sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. While the events of a.d. 70 may reflect somewhat the comments Jesus makes here, the reference to the scope and severity of this judgment strongly suggest that much more is in view. Most likely Jesus is referring to the great end-time judgment on Jerusalem in the great tribulation.