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 9:5

9:5 Indeed every boot that marches and shakes the earth ³ 

and every garment dragged through blood

is used as fuel for the fire.

Isaiah 9:19

9:19 Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, ⁴ 

and the people became fuel for the fire. ⁵ 

People had no compassion on one another. ⁶ 

Isaiah 10:16

10:16 For this reason ⁷  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ⁸  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ⁹ 

Isaiah 26:11

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ¹⁰ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ¹¹ 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ¹² 

Isaiah 29:6

29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, ¹³ 

accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,

by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

Isaiah 30:14

30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,

so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ¹⁴ 

Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ¹⁵ 

to scoop a hot coal from a fire ¹⁶ 

or to skim off water from a cistern.” ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 30:30

30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout ¹⁸ 

and intervene in power, ¹⁹ 

with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ²⁰ 

with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

Isaiah 33:14

33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;

panic ²¹  grips the godless. ²² 

They say, ²³  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ²⁴  fire?’

Isaiah 43:2

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ²⁵  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ²⁶  you.

Isaiah 44:16

44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –

over that half he cooks ²⁷  meat;

he roasts a meal and fills himself.

Yes, he warms himself and says,

‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’

Isaiah 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ²⁸  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ²⁹ 

Isaiah 50:11

50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire

and who equip yourselves with ³⁰  flaming arrows, ³¹ 

walk ³²  in the light ³³  of the fire you started

and among the flaming arrows you ignited! ³⁴ 

This is what you will receive from me: ³⁵ 

you will lie down in a place of pain. ³⁶ 

Isaiah 64:11

64:11 Our holy temple, our pride and joy, ³⁷ 

the place where our ancestors praised you,

has been burned with fire;

all our prized possessions have been destroyed. ³⁸ 

Isaiah 65:5

65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!

Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’

These people are like smoke in my nostrils,

like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Isaiah 66:15

66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,

his chariots come like a windstorm, ³⁹ 

to reveal his raging anger,

his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. ⁴⁰ 

[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.”

[9:5]  ³ tn Heb “Indeed every boot marching with shaking.” On the meaning of סְאוֹן (sÿ’on, “boot”) and the related denominative verb, both of which occur only here, see HALOT 738 s.v. סְאוֹן.

[9:19]  ⁵ tn The precise meaning of the verb עְתַּם (’ÿtam), which occurs only here, is uncertain, though the context strongly suggests that it means “burn, scorch.”

[9:19]  ⁶ sn The uncontrollable fire of the people’s wickedness (v. 18) is intensified by the fire of the Lord’s judgment (v. 19). God allows (or causes) their wickedness to become self-destructive as civil strife and civil war break out in the land.

[9:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “men were not showing compassion to their brothers.” The idiom “men to their brothers” is idiomatic for reciprocity. The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav (ו) consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[10:16]  ⁷ sn The irrational arrogance of the Assyrians (v. 15) will prompt the judgment about to be described.

[10:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “will send leanness against his healthy ones”; NASB, NIV “will send a wasting disease.”

[10:16]  ⁹ tc Heb “and in the place of his glory burning will burn, like the burning of fire.” The highly repetitive text (יֵקַד יְקֹד כִּיקוֹד אֵשׁ, yeqad yiqod kiqod ’esh) may be dittographic; if the second consonantal sequence יקד is omitted, the text would read “and in the place of his glory, it will burn like the burning of fire.”

[26:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”

[29:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] there will be visitation.” The third feminine singular passive verb form תִּפָּקֵד (tippaqed, “she/it will be visited”) is used here in an impersonal sense. See GKC 459 §144.b.

[30:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”

[30:14]  ¹⁴ tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

[30:14]  ¹⁶ tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.

[30:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[33:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

[33:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

[33:14]  ¹⁹ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:14]  ²⁰ tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[43:2]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

[44:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”

[47:14]  ²³ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ²⁴ 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.

[50:11]  ²⁵ tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).

[50:11]  ²⁶ tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.

[50:11]  ²⁷ tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.

[50:11]  ²⁸ tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).

[50:11]  ²⁹ sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.

[50:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[50:11]  ³¹ sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.

[64:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “our source of pride.”

[64:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “all that we valued has become a ruin.”

[66:15]  ²⁹ sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.

[66:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”