Isaiah 10:13

10:13 For he says:

“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,

by my strategy that I devised.

I invaded the territory of nations, ¹ 

and looted their storehouses.

Like a mighty conqueror, ²  I brought down rulers. ³ 

Isaiah 19:25

19:25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ⁴  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ⁵  Israel!”

Isaiah 29:23

29:23 For when they see their children,

whom I will produce among them, ⁶ 

they will honor ⁷  my name.

They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; ⁸ 

they will respect ⁹  the God of Israel.

Isaiah 37:19

37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, ¹⁰  for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 45:11-12

45:11 This is what the Lord says,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹²  the one who formed him,

concerning things to come: ¹³ 

“How dare you question me ¹⁴  about my children!

How dare you tell me what to do with ¹⁵  the work of my own hands!

45:12 I made the earth,

I created the people who live ¹⁶  on it.

It was me – my hands ¹⁷  stretched out the sky, ¹⁸ 

I give orders to all the heavenly lights. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 51:16

Zion’s Time to Celebrate

51:16 I commission you ²⁰  as my spokesman; ²¹ 

I cover you with the palm of my hand, ²² 

to establish ²³  the sky and to found the earth,

to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” ²⁴ 

Isaiah 65:2

65:2 I spread out my hands all day long

to my rebellious people,

who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable,

and who did what they desired. ²⁵ 

[10:13]  ¹ tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”

[10:13]  ² tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).

[10:13]  ³ tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.

[19:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “which the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will bless [it], saying.” The third masculine singular suffix on the form בֵּרֲכוֹ (berakho) should probably be emended to a third feminine singular suffix בֵּרֲכָהּ (berakhah), for its antecedent would appear to be the feminine noun אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) at the end of v. 24.

[19:25]  ⁵ tn Or “my inheritance” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[29:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “for when he sees his children, the work of my hands in his midst.”

[29:23]  ⁸ tn Or “treat as holy” (also in the following line); NASB, NRSV “will sanctify.”

[29:23]  ⁹ sn Holy One of Jacob is similar to the phrase “Holy One of Israel” common throughout Isaiah; see the sn at Isa 1:4.

[29:23]  ¹⁰ tn Or “fear,” in the sense of “stand in awe of.”

[37:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”

[37:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).

[45:11]  ¹³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[45:11]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsÿro, “the one who formed him”) to יֹצֵר (yotser, “the one who forms”; the suffixed form in the Hebrew text may be influenced by vv. 9-10, where the same form appears twice) and takes “coming things” as the object of the participle (either objective genitive or accusative): “the one who brings the future into being.”

[45:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Ask me” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[45:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[45:12]  ¹⁶ tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I, even my hands”; NASB “I stretched out…with My hands”; NRSV “it was my hands that stretched out.” The same construction occurs at the beginning of v. 13.

[45:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[45:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.

[51:16]  ¹⁹ tn The addressee (second masculine singular, as in vv. 13, 15) in this verse is unclear. The exiles are addressed in the immediately preceding verses (note the critical tone of vv. 12-13 and the reference to the exiles in v. 14). However, it seems unlikely that they are addressed in v. 16, for the addressee appears to be commissioned to tell Zion, who here represents the restored exiles, “you are my people.” The addressee is distinct from the exiles. The language of v. 16a is reminiscent of 49:2 and 50:4, where the Lord’s special servant says he is God’s spokesman and effective instrument. Perhaps the Lord, having spoken to the exiles in vv. 1-15, now responds to this servant, who spoke just prior to this in 50:4-11.

[51:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I place my words in your mouth.”

[51:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “with the shadow of my hand.”

[51:16]  ²² tc The Hebrew text has לִנְטֹעַ (lintoa’, “to plant”). Several scholars prefer to emend this form to לִנְטֹת (lintot) from נָטָה (natah, “to stretch out”); see v. 13, as well as 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV. However, since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, LXX (and Aquila and Symmachus), and Vulgate support the MT reading, there is no need to emend the form. The interpretation is clear enough: Yahweh fixed the sky in its place.

[51:16]  ²³ tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough – the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).

[65:2]  ²² tn Heb “who walked [in] the way that is not good, after their thoughts.”