Isaiah 10:12

10:12 But when ¹  the sovereign master ²  finishes judging ³  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ⁴  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ⁵ 

Isaiah 10:16-19

10:16 For this reason ⁶  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ⁷  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ⁸ 

10:17 The light of Israel ⁹  will become a fire,

their Holy One ¹⁰  will become a flame;

it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s ¹¹  briers

and his thorns in one day.

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed, ¹² 

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ¹³ 

10:19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,

a child will be able to count them. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 10:33-34

10:33 Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,

is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. ¹⁵ 

The tallest trees ¹⁶  will be cut down,

the loftiest ones will be brought low.

10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,

and mighty Lebanon will fall. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 30:30-33

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.

30:31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria; ²¹ 

he will beat them with a club.

30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel, ²² 

with which the Lord will beat them, ²³ 

will be accompanied by music from the ²⁴  tambourine and harp,

and he will attack them with his weapons. ²⁵ 

30:33 For ²⁶  the burial place is already prepared; ²⁷ 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ²⁸ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ²⁹ 

The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,

will ignite it.

Isaiah 31:8

31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made; ³⁰ 

a sword not made by humankind will destroy them. ³¹ 

They will run away from this sword ³² 

and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.

Isaiah 33:10-12

33:10 “Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.

“Now I will exalt myself;

now I will magnify myself. ³³ 

33:11 You conceive straw, ³⁴ 

you give birth to chaff;

your breath is a fire that destroys you. ³⁵ 

33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes; ³⁶ 

like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.

Exodus 12:23

12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees ³⁷  the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer ³⁸  to enter your houses to strike you. ³⁹ 

Exodus 12:2

12:2 “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year. ⁴⁰ 

Exodus 24:16

24:16 The glory of the Lord resided ⁴¹  on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. ⁴²  On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud.

Exodus 24:2

24:2 Moses alone may come ⁴³  near the Lord, but the others ⁴⁴  must not come near, ⁴⁵  nor may the people go up with him.”

Exodus 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ⁴⁶ In the third month after the Israelites went out ⁴⁷  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ⁴⁸  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

Exodus 19:1

Israel at Sinai

19:1 ⁴⁹ In the third month after the Israelites went out ⁵⁰  from the land of Egypt, on the very day, ⁵¹  they came to the Desert of Sinai.

Exodus 21:12

Personal Injuries

21:12 ⁵² “Whoever strikes someone ⁵³  so that he dies ⁵⁴  must surely be put to death. ⁵⁵ 

Exodus 21:16

21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone ⁵⁶  and sells him, ⁵⁷  or is caught still holding him, ⁵⁸  must surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:2

Hebrew Servants

21:2 ⁵⁹ “If you buy ⁶⁰  a Hebrew servant, ⁶¹  he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free ⁶²  without paying anything. ⁶³ 

Exodus 32:21-22

32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?” 32:22 Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my lord; ⁶⁴  you know these people, that they tend to evil. ⁶⁵ 

Psalms 35:5-6

35:5 May they be ⁶⁶  like wind-driven chaff,

as the Lord’s angel ⁶⁷  attacks them! ⁶⁸ 

35:6 May their path be ⁶⁹  dark and slippery,

as the Lord’s angel chases them!

Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ⁷⁰  struck ⁷¹  Herod ⁷²  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ⁷³ 

[10:12]  ¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[10:12]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 23, 24, 33 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[10:12]  ³ tn Heb “his work on/against.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “on”; NIV “against.”

[10:12]  ⁴ tn The Lord is speaking here, as in vv. 5-6a.

[10:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will visit [judgment] on the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of the height of his eyes.” The proud Assyrian king is likened to a large, beautiful fruit tree.

[10:16]  ⁶ sn The irrational arrogance of the Assyrians (v. 15) will prompt the judgment about to be described.

[10:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “will send leanness against his healthy ones”; NASB, NIV “will send a wasting disease.”

[10:16]  ⁸ 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.”

[10:17]  ⁹ tn In this context the “Light of Israel” is a divine title (note the parallel title “his holy one”). The title points to God’s royal splendor, which overshadows and, when transformed into fire, destroys the “majestic glory” of the king of Assyria (v. 16b).

[10:17]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his.” In vv. 17-19 the Assyrian king and his empire is compared to a great forest and orchard that are destroyed by fire (symbolic of the Lord).

[10:18]  ¹² tn Heb “from breath to flesh it will destroy.” The expression “from breath to flesh” refers to the two basic components of a person, the immaterial (life’s breath) and the material (flesh). Here the phrase is used idiomatically to indicate totality.

[10:18]  ¹³ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. מָסַס (masas), which is used elsewhere of substances dissolving or melting, may here mean “waste away” or “despair.” נָסַס (nasas), which appears only here, may mean “be sick” or “stagger, despair.” See BDB 651 s.v. I נָסַס and HALOT 703 s.v. I נסס. One might translate the line literally, “like the wasting away of one who is sick” (cf. NRSV “as when an invalid wastes away”).

[10:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the rest of the trees of his forest will be counted, and a child will record them.”

[10:33]  ¹⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads “with terrifying power,” or “with a crash.” מַעֲרָצָה (ma’aratsah, “terrifying power” or “crash”) occurs only here. Several have suggested an emendation to מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad, “ax”) parallel to “ax” in v. 34; see HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:448.

[10:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the exalted of the height.” This could refer to the highest branches (cf. TEV) or the tallest trees (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[10:34]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text has, “and Lebanon, by/as [?] a mighty one, will fall.” The translation above takes the preposition בְּ (bet) prefixed to “mighty one” as indicating identity, “Lebanon, as a mighty one, will fall.” In this case “mighty one” describes Lebanon. (In Ezek 17:23 and Zech 11:2 the adjective is used of Lebanon’s cedars.) Another option is to take the preposition as indicating agency and interpret “mighty one” as a divine title (see Isa 33:21). One could then translate, “and Lebanon will fall by [the agency of] the Mighty One.”

[30:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[30:31]  ²¹ tn Heb “Indeed by the voice of the Lord Assyria will be shattered.”

[30:32]  ²² tc The Hebrew text has “every blow from a founded [i.e., “appointed”?] cudgel.” The translation above, with support from a few medieval Hebrew mss, assumes an emendation of מוּסָדָה (musadah, “founded”) to מוּסָרֹה (musaroh, “his discipline”).

[30:32]  ²³ tn Heb “which the Lord lays on him.”

[30:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will be with” (KJV similar).

[30:32]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and with battles of brandishing [weapons?] he will fight against him.” Some prefer to emend וּבְמִלְחֲמוֹת (uvÿmilkhamot, “and with battles of”) to וּבִמְחֹלוֹת (uvimkholot, “and with dancing”). Note the immediately preceding references to musical instruments.

[30:33]  ²⁶ tn Or “indeed.”

[30:33]  ²⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).

[30:33]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”

[30:33]  ²⁹ tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”

[31:8]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”

[31:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”

[31:8]  ³² tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”

[33:10]  ³³ tn Or “lift myself up” (KJV); NLT “show my power and might.”

[33:11]  ³⁴ tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.

[33:11]  ³⁵ sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.

[33:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.

[12:23]  ³⁷ tn The first of the two clauses begun with perfects and vav consecutives may be subordinated to form a temporal clause: “and he will see…and he will pass over,” becomes “when he sees…he will pass over.”

[12:23]  ³⁸ tn Here the form is the Hiphil participle with the definite article. Gesenius says this is now to be explained as “the destroyer” although some take it to mean “destruction” (GKC 406 §126.m, n. 1).

[12:23]  ³⁹ tn “you” has been supplied.

[12:2]  ⁴⁰ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 294-95) shows that the intent of the passage was not to make this month in the spring the New Year – that was in the autumn. Rather, when counting months this was supposed to be remembered first, for it was the great festival of freedom from Egypt. He observes how some scholars have unnecessarily tried to date one New Year earlier than the other.

[24:16]  ⁴¹ sn The verb is וַיִּשְׁכֹּן (vayyishkon, “and dwelt, abode”). From this is derived the epithet “the Shekinah Glory,” the dwelling or abiding glory. The “glory of Yahweh” was a display visible at a distance, clearly in view of the Israelites. To them it was like a consuming fire in the midst of the cloud that covered the mountain. That fire indicated that Yahweh wished to accept their sacrifice, as if it were a pleasant aroma to him, as Leviticus would say. This “appearance” indicated that the phenomena represented a shimmer of the likeness of his glory (B. Jacob, Exodus, 749). The verb, according to U. Cassuto (Exodus, 316), also gives an inkling of the next section of the book, the building of the “tabernacle,” the dwelling place, the מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan). The vision of the glory of Yahweh confirmed the authority of the revelation of the Law given to Israel. This chapter is the climax of God’s bringing people into covenant with himself, the completion of his revelation to them, a completion that is authenticated with the miraculous. It ends with the mediator going up in the clouds to be with God, and the people down below eagerly awaiting his return. The message of the whole chapter could be worded this way: Those whom God sanctifies by the blood of the covenant and instructs by the book of the covenant may enjoy fellowship with him and anticipate a far more glorious fellowship. So too in the NT the commandments and teachings of Jesus are confirmed by his miraculous deeds and by his glorious manifestation on the Mount of the Transfiguration, where a few who represented the disciples would see his glory and be able to teach others. The people of the new covenant have been brought into fellowship with God through the blood of the covenant; they wait eagerly for his return from heaven in the clouds.

[24:16]  ⁴² tn This is an adverbial accusative of time.

[24:2]  ⁴³ tn The verb is a perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive; it and the preceding perfect tense follow the imperative, and so have either a force of instruction, or, as taken here, are the equivalent of an imperfect tense (of permission).

[24:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “they.”

[24:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Now the imperfect tense negated is used; here the prohibition would fit (“they will not come near”), or the obligatory (“they must not”) in which the subjects are obliged to act – or not act in this case.

[19:1]  ⁴⁶ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ⁴⁷ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “on this day.”

[19:1]  ⁴⁹ sn This chapter is essentially about mediation. The people are getting ready to meet with God, receive the Law from him, and enter into a covenant with him. All of this required mediation and preparation. Through it all, Israel will become God’s unique possession, a kingdom of priests on earth – if they comply with his Law. The chapter can be divided as follows: vv. 1-8 tell how God, Israel’s great deliverer promised to make them a kingdom of priests; this is followed by God’s declaration that Moses would be the mediator (v. 9); vv. 10-22 record instructions for Israel to prepare themselves to worship Yahweh and an account of the manifestation of Yahweh with all the phenomena; and the chapter closes with the mediation of Moses on behalf of the people (vv. 23-25). Having been redeemed from Egypt, the people will now be granted a covenant with God. See also R. E. Bee, “A Statistical Study of the Sinai Pericope,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 135 (1972): 406-21.

[19:1]  ⁵⁰ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive to form a temporal clause.

[19:1]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “on this day.”

[21:12]  ⁵² sn The underlying point of this section remains vital today: The people of God must treat all human life as sacred.

[21:12]  ⁵³ tn The construction uses a Hiphil participle in construct with the noun for “man” (or person as is understood in a law for the nation): “the one striking [of] a man.” This is a casus pendens (independent nominative absolute); it indicates the condition or action that involves further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).

[21:12]  ⁵⁴ tn The Hebrew word וָמֵת (vamet) is a Qal perfect with vav consecutive; it means “and he dies” and not “and killed him” (which require another stem). Gesenius notes that this form after a participle is the equivalent of a sentence representing a contingent action (GKC 333 §112.n). The word shows the result of the action in the opening participle. It is therefore a case of murder or manslaughter.

[21:12]  ⁵⁵ sn See A. Phillips, “Another Look at Murder,” JJS 28 (1977): 105-26.

[21:16]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “a stealer of a man,” thus “anyone stealing a man.”

[21:16]  ⁵⁷ sn The implication is that it would be an Israelite citizen who was kidnapped and sold to a foreign tribe or country (like Joseph). There was always a market for slaves. The crime would be in forcibly taking the individual away from his home and religion and putting him into bondage or death.

[21:16]  ⁵⁸ tn Literally “and he is found in his hand” (KJV and ASV both similar), being not yet sold.

[21:2]  ⁵⁹ sn See H. L. Elleson, “The Hebrew Slave: A Study in Early Israelite Society,” EvQ 45 (1973): 30-35; N. P. Lemche, “The Manumission of Slaves – The Fallow Year – The Sabbatical Year – The Jobel Year,” VT 26 (1976): 38-59, and “The ‘Hebrew Slave,’ Comments on the Slave Law – Ex. 21:2-11,” VT 25 (1975): 129-44.

[21:2]  ⁶⁰ tn The verbs in both the conditional clause and the following ruling are imperfect tense: “If you buy…then he will serve.” The second imperfect tense (the ruling) could be taken either as a specific future or an obligatory imperfect. Gesenius explains how the verb works in the conditional clauses here (see GKC 497 §159.bb).

[21:2]  ⁶¹ sn The interpretation of “Hebrew” in this verse is uncertain: (l) a gentilic ending, (2) a fellow Israelite, (3) or a class of mercenaries of the population (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:431). It seems likely that the term describes someone born a Hebrew, as opposed to a foreigner (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 210). The literature on this includes: M. P. Gray, “The Habiru-Hebrew Problem,” HUCA 29 (1958): 135-202.

[21:2]  ⁶² sn The word חָפְשִׁי (khofshi) means “free.” It is possible that there is some connection between this word and a technical term used in other cultures for a social class of emancipated slaves who were freemen again (see I. Mendelsohn, “New Light on the Hupsu,” BASOR 139 [1955]: 9-11).

[21:2]  ⁶³ tn The adverb חִנָּם (hinnam) means “gratis, free”; it is related to the verb “to be gracious, show favor” and the noun “grace.”

[32:22]  ⁶⁴ sn “My lord” refers to Moses.

[32:22]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “that on evil it is.”

[35:5]  ⁶⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive. See v. 4.

[35:5]  ⁶⁷ sn See the mention of the Lord’s angel in Ps 34:7.

[35:5]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “as the Lord’s angel pushes [them].”

[35:6]  ⁶⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive, indicating this is a prayer.

[12:23]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ⁷¹ sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ⁷² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ⁷³ sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).