Isaiah 1:8

1:8 Daughter Zion ¹  is left isolated,

like a hut in a vineyard,

or a shelter in a cucumber field;

she is a besieged city. ² 

Isaiah 14:17

14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,

who ruined its ³  cities,

and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ⁴ 

Isaiah 17:1

The Lord Will Judge Damascus

17:1 Here is a message about Damascus:

“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,

it is a heap of ruins!

Isaiah 22:9

22:9 You saw the many breaks

in the walls of the city of David; ⁵ 

you stored up water in the lower pool.

Isaiah 23:16

23:16 “Take the harp,

go through the city,

forgotten prostitute!

Play it well,

play lots of songs,

so you’ll be noticed!” ⁶ 

Isaiah 33:8

33:8 Highways are empty, ⁷ 

there are no travelers. ⁸ 

Treaties are broken, ⁹ 

witnesses are despised, ¹⁰ 

human life is treated with disrespect. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 37:13

37:13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the kings of Lair, ¹²  Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

Isaiah 37:34-35

37:34 He will go back the way he came –

he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.

37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” ¹³ 

Isaiah 42:11

42:11 Let the desert and its cities shout out,

the towns where the nomads of Kedar live!

Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully;

let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.

Isaiah 48:2

48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; ¹⁴ 

they trust in ¹⁵  the God of Israel,

whose name is the Lord who commands armies.

Isaiah 54:3

54:3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your children will conquer ¹⁶  nations

and will resettle desolate cities.

Isaiah 61:4

61:4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins

and restore the places that were desolate; ¹⁷ 

they will reestablish the ruined cities,

the places that have been desolate since ancient times.

Isaiah 62:12

62:12 They will be called, “The Holy People,

the Ones Protected ¹⁸  by the Lord.”

You will be called, “Sought After,

City Not Abandoned.”

Isaiah 64:10

64:10 Your chosen ¹⁹  cities have become a desert;

Zion has become a desert,

Jerusalem ²⁰  is a desolate ruin.

Isaiah 66:6

66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city;

the sound comes from the temple!

It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.

[1:8]  ¹ 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]  ² 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).

[14:17]  ³ tc The pronominal suffix is masculine, even though its antecedent appears to be the grammatically feminine noun “world.” Some have suggested that the form עָרָיו (’arayv, plural noun with third masculine singular suffix) should be emended to עָרֶיהָ (’areha, plural noun with third feminine singular suffix). This emendation may be unnecessary in light of other examples of lack of agreement a suffix and its antecedent noun.

[14:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his prisoners did not let loose to [their] homes.” This really means, “he did not let loose his prisoners and send them back to their homes.’ On the elliptical style, see GKC 366 §117.o.

[22:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the breaks of the city of David, you saw that they were many.”

[23:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “so you will be remembered.”

[33:8]  ⁹ tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”

[33:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”

[33:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”

[33:8]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “he despises cities.” The term עָרִים (’arim, “cities”) is probably a corruption of an original עֵדִים (’edim, “[legal] witnesses”), a reading that is preserved in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.

[33:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”

[37:13]  ¹¹ sn Lair was a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.

[37:35]  ¹³ tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

[48:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qara’) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.

[48:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”

[54:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “take possession of”; NAB “shall dispossess.”

[61:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the formerly desolate places they will raise up.”

[62:12]  ²¹ tn Or “the redeemed of the Lord” (KJV, NAB).

[64:10]  ²³ tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”

[64:10]  ²⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.