Isaiah 1:7

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 

Isaiah 24:23

24:23 The full moon will be covered up, ³ 

the bright sun ⁴  will be darkened; ⁵ 

for the Lord who commands armies will rule ⁶ 

on Mount Zion in Jerusalem ⁷ 

in the presence of his assembly, in majestic splendor. ⁸ 

Isaiah 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ⁹  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 61:11

61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops

and a garden yields its produce,

so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance ¹¹  to grow,

and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. ¹² 

[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.”

[24:23]  ³ tn Heb “will be ashamed.”

[24:23]  ⁴ tn Or “glow of the sun.”

[24:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “will be ashamed” (so NCV).

[24:23]  ⁶ tn Or “take his throne,” “become king.”

[24:23]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “and before his elders [in] splendor.”

[47:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

[61:11]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).

[61:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”