Isaiah 10:2

10:2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,

and to deprive ¹  the oppressed among my people of justice,

so they can steal what widows own,

and loot what belongs to orphans. ² 

Isaiah 13:18

13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; ³ 

they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, ⁴ 

they will not ⁵  look with pity on children.

Isaiah 27:11

27:11 When its branches get brittle, ⁶  they break;

women come and use them for kindling. ⁷ 

For these people lack understanding, ⁸ 

therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;

the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

Isaiah 62:5

62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons ⁹  will marry you.

As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

Isaiah 65:19

65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,

and my people will bring me happiness. ¹⁰ 

The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow

will never be heard in her again.

Psalms 147:10

147:10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,

nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 18:21

18:21 So let their children die of starvation.

Let them be cut down by the sword. ¹² 

Let their wives lose their husbands and children.

Let the older men die of disease ¹³ 

and the younger men die by the sword in battle.

Zechariah 9:17

9:17 How precious and fair! ¹⁴  Grain will make the young men flourish and new wine the young women.

[10:2]  ¹ tn Or “rob” (ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV); KJV “take away the right from the poor.”

[10:2]  ² tn Heb “so that widows are their plunder, and they can loot orphans.”

[13:18]  ³ tn Heb “and bows cut to bits young men.” “Bows” stands by metonymy for arrows.

[13:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “the fruit of the womb.”

[13:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “their eye does not.” Here “eye” is a metonymy for the whole person.

[27:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[27:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.

[27:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”

[62:5]  ⁹ tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (ba’al) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).

[65:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”

[147:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he does not desire the strength of the horse, he does not take delight in the legs of the man.” Here “the horse” refers to the war horse used by ancient Near Eastern chariot forces, and “the man” refers to the warrior whose muscular legs epitomize his strength.

[18:21]  ¹² tn Heb “be poured out to the hand [= power] of the sword.” For this same expression see Ezek 35:5; Ps 63:10 (63:11 HT). Comparison with those two passages show that it involved death by violent means, perhaps death in battle.

[18:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “be slain by death.” The commentaries are generally agreed that this refers to death by disease or plague as in 15:2. Hence, the reference is to the deadly trio of sword, starvation, and disease which were often connected with war. See the notes on 15:2.

[9:17]  ¹⁴ sn This expostulation best fits the whole preceding description of God’s eschatological work on behalf of his people. His goodness is especially evident in his nurturing of the young men and women of his kingdom.