Isaiah 10:4

10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,

or to fall among those who have been killed. ¹ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Isaiah 10:25

10:25 For very soon my fury ³  will subside, and my anger will be directed toward their destruction.”

Isaiah 40:1-2

The Lord Returns to Jerusalem

40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”

says your ⁴  God.

40:2 “Speak kindly to ⁵  Jerusalem, ⁶  and tell her

that her time of warfare is over, ⁷ 

that her punishment is completed. ⁸ 

For the Lord has made her pay double ⁹  for all her sins.”

Isaiah 51:3

51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;

he will console all her ruins.

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the Garden of the Lord.

Happiness and joy will be restored to ¹⁰  her,

thanksgiving and the sound of music.

Isaiah 54:8

54:8 In a burst ¹¹  of anger I rejected you ¹²  momentarily,

but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”

says your protector, ¹³  the Lord.

Isaiah 57:15-18

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ¹⁴  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ¹⁵ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ¹⁶ 

57:16 For I will not be hostile ¹⁷  forever

or perpetually angry,

for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, ¹⁸ 

the life-giving breath I created.

57:17 I was angry because of their sinful greed;

I attacked them and angrily rejected them, ¹⁹ 

yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. ²⁰ 

57:18 I have seen their behavior, ²¹ 

but I will heal them and give them rest,

and I will once again console those who mourn. ²² 

Isaiah 66:13

66:13 As a mother consoles a child, ²³ 

so I will console you,

and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”

Deuteronomy 30:1-3

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses ²⁴  I have set before you, you will reflect upon them ²⁵  in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. 30:2 Then if you and your descendants ²⁶  turn to the Lord your God and obey him with your whole mind and being ²⁷  just as ²⁸  I am commanding you today, 30:3 the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he ²⁹  has scattered you.

Psalms 30:5

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ³⁰ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ³¹ 

Psalms 85:1-3

Psalm 85 ³² 

For the music director; written by the Korahites, a psalm.

85:1 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;

you restored the well-being of Jacob. ³³ 

85:2 You pardoned ³⁴  the wrongdoing of your people;

you forgave ³⁵  all their sin. (Selah)

85:3 You withdrew all your fury;

you turned back from your raging anger. ³⁶ 

Jeremiah 31:18-20

31:18 I have indeed ³⁷  heard the people of Israel ³⁸  say mournfully,

‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ³⁹ 

You disciplined us and we learned from it. ⁴⁰ 

Let us come back to you and we will do so, ⁴¹ 

for you are the Lord our God.

31:19 For after we turned away from you we repented.

After we came to our senses ⁴²  we beat our breasts in sorrow. ⁴³ 

We are ashamed and humiliated

because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’ ⁴⁴ 

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ⁴⁵ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ⁴⁶ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁴⁷ 

Ezekiel 39:24-29

39:24 According to their uncleanness and rebellion I have dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.

39:25 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Now I will restore ⁴⁸  the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name. 39:26 They will bear their shame for all their unfaithful acts against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid. 39:27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will magnify myself among them in the sight of many nations. 39:28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them in exile ⁴⁹  any longer. 39:29 I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, ⁵⁰  declares the sovereign Lord.”

Hosea 6:1

Superficial Repentance Breeds False Assurance of God’s Forgiveness

6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!

He himself has torn us to pieces,

but he will heal us!

He has injured ⁵¹  us,

but he will bandage our wounds!

Hosea 11:8

The Divine Dilemma: Judgment or Mercy?

11:8 How can I give you up, ⁵²  O Ephraim?

How can I surrender you, O Israel?

How can I treat you like Admah?

How can I make you like Zeboiim?

I have had a change of heart! ⁵³ 

All my tender compassions are aroused! ⁵⁴ 

Hosea 14:4-9

Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings

14:4 “I will heal their waywardness ⁵⁵ 

and love them freely, ⁵⁶ 

for my anger will turn ⁵⁷  away from them.

14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like a lily,

he will send down his roots like a cedar of ⁵⁸  Lebanon.

14:6 His young shoots will grow;

his splendor will be like an olive tree,

his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

14:7 People will reside again ⁵⁹  in his shade;

they will plant and harvest grain in abundance. ⁶⁰ 

They will blossom like a vine,

and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.

14:8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do ⁶¹  with idols anymore!

I will answer him and care for him.

I am like ⁶²  a luxuriant cypress tree; ⁶³ 

your fruitfulness comes from me! ⁶⁴ 

Concluding Exhortation

14:9 Who is wise?

Let him discern ⁶⁵  these things!

Who is discerning?

Let him understand them!

For the ways of the Lord are right;

the godly walk in them,

but in them the rebellious stumble.

[10:4]  ¹ tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.

[10:4]  ² tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”

[10:25]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has simply “fury,” but the pronominal element can be assumed on the basis of what immediately follows (see “my anger” in the clause). It is possible that the suffixed yod (י) has been accidentally dropped by virtual haplography. Note that a vav (ו) is prefixed to the form that immediately follows; yod and vav are very similar in later script phases.

[40:1]  ⁴ tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine plural. The identity of the addressee is uncertain: (1) God’s people may be addressed, or (2) the unidentified heralds commanded to comfort Jerusalem.

[40:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

[40:2]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[40:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

[40:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

[40:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).

[51:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[54:8]  ¹¹ tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”

[54:8]  ¹² tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”

[54:8]  ¹³ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[57:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[57:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps, “argue,” or “accuse” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for a spirit from before me would be faint.”

[57:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and I struck him, hiding, and I was angry.” פָּנַיִם (panayim, “face”) is the implied object of “hiding.”

[57:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he walked [as an] apostate in the way of his heart.”

[57:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “his ways” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); TEV “how they acted.”

[57:18]  ²² tn Heb “and I will restore consolation to him, to his mourners.”

[66:13]  ²³ tn Heb “like a man whose mother comforts him.”

[30:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the blessing and the curse.”

[30:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”

[30:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “children.”

[30:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “heart and soul” (also in vv. 6, 10).

[30:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “according to all.”

[30:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[30:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

[30:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.

[85:1]  ³² sn Psalm 85. God’s people recall how he forgave their sins in the past, pray that he might now restore them to his favor, and anticipate renewed blessings.

[85:1]  ³³ tn Heb “you turned with a turning [toward] Jacob.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv). See Pss 14:7; 53:6.

[85:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “lifted up.”

[85:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “covered over.”

[85:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81. See Pss 69:24; 78:49.

[31:18]  ³⁷ tn The use of “indeed” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute which precedes the verb for emphasis (see IBHS 585-86 §35.3.1f).

[31:18]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Ephraim.” See the study note on 31:9. The more familiar term is used, the term “people” added to it, and plural pronouns used throughout the verse to aid in understanding.

[31:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “like an untrained calf.” The metaphor is that of a calf who has never been broken to bear the yoke (cf. Hos 4:16; 10:11).

[31:18]  ⁴⁰ tn The verb here is from the same root as the preceding and is probably an example of the “tolerative Niphal,” i.e., “I let myself be disciplined/I responded to it.” See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g and note the translation of some of the examples there, especially Isa 19:22; 65:1.

[31:18]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Bring me back in order that I may come back.” For the use of the plural pronouns see the marginal note at the beginning of the verse. The verb “bring back” and “come back” are from the same root in two different verbal stems and in the context express the idea of spiritual repentance and restoration of relationship not physical return to the land. (See BDB 999 s.v. שׁוּב Hiph.2.a for the first verb and 997 s.v. Qal.6.c for the second.) For the use of the cohortative to express purpose after the imperative see GKC 320 §108.d or IBHS 575 §34.5.2b.

[31:19]  ⁴² tn For this meaning of the verb see HAL 374 s.v. יָדַע Nif 5 or W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 129. REB translates “Now that I am submissive” relating the verb to a second root meaning “be submissive.” (See HALOT 375 s.v. II יָדַע and J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament, 19-21, for evidence for this verb. Other passages cited with this nuance are Judg 8:16; Prov 10:9; Job 20:20.)

[31:19]  ⁴³ tn Heb “I struck my thigh.” This was a gesture of grief and anguish (cf. Ezek 21:12 [21:17 HT]). The modern equivalent is “to beat the breast.”

[31:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “because I bear the reproach of my youth.” For the plural referents see the note at the beginning of v. 18.

[31:20]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[39:25]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “cause to return.”

[39:28]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “there,” referring to the foreign nations to which they were exiled. The translation makes the referent clear.

[39:29]  ⁵⁰ sn See Ezek 11:19; 37:14.

[6:1]  ⁵¹ tn “has struck”; NRSV “struck down.”

[11:8]  ⁵² tn The imperfect verbs in 11:8 function as imperfects of capability. See IBHS 564 §34.1a.

[11:8]  ⁵³ tn The phrase נֶהְפַּךְ עָלַי לִבִּי (nehpakh ’alay libbi) is an idiom that can be taken in two ways: (1) emotional sense: to describe a tumult of emotions, not just a clash of ideas, that are afflicting a person (Lam 1:20; HALOT 253 s.v. הפך 1.c) and (2) volitional sense: to describe a decisive change of policy, that is, a reversal of sentiment from amity to hatred (Exod 14:5; Ps 105:25; BDB 245 s.v. הָפַךְ 1; HALOT 253 s.v. 3). The English versions alternate between these two: (1) emotional discomfort and tension over the prospect of destroying Israel: “mine heart is turned within me” (KJV), “my heart recoils within me” (RSV, NRSV), “My heart is turned over within Me” (NASB), “My heart is torn within me” (NLT); and (2) volitional reversal of previous decision to totally destroy Israel: “I have had a change of heart” (NJPS), “my heart is changed within me” (NIV), and “my heart will not let me do it!” (TEV). Both BDB 245 s.v. 1.b and HALOT 253 s.v. 3 suggest that the idiom describes a decisive change of heart (reversal of decision to totally destroy Israel once and for all) rather than emotional turbulence of God shifting back and forth between whether to destroy or spare Israel. This volitional nuance is supported by the modal function of the 1st person common singular imperfects in 11:8 (“I will not carry out my fierce anger…I will not destroy Ephraim…I will not come in wrath”) and by the prophetic announcement of future restoration in 11:10-11. Clearly, a dramatic reversal both in tone and in divine intention occurs between 11:5-11.

[11:8]  ⁵⁴ tn The Niphal of כָּמַר (kamar) means “to grow warm, tender” (BDB 485 s.v. כָּמַר), as its use in a simile with the oven demonstrates (Lam 5:10). It is used several times to describe the arousal of the most tender affection (Gen 43:30; 1 Kgs 3:26; Hos 11:8; BDB 485 s.v. 1; HALOT 482 s.v. כמר 1). Cf. NRSV “my compassion grows warm and tender.”

[14:4]  ⁵⁵ sn The noun מְשׁוּבָתָה (mÿshuvatah, “waywardness”; cf. KJV “backsliding”) is from the same root as שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return!”) in 14:1[2]. This repetition of שׁוּב (shuv) creates a wordplay which emphasizes reciprocity: if Israel will return (שׁוּבָה, shuvah) to the Lord, he will cure her of the tendency to turn away (מְשׁוּבָתָה) from him.

[14:4]  ⁵⁶ tn The noun נְדָבָה (nÿdavah, “voluntariness; free-will offering”) is an adverbial accusative of manner: “freely, voluntarily” (BDB 621 s.v. נְדָבָה 1). Cf. CEV “without limit”; TEV “with all my heart”; NLT “my love will know no bounds.”

[14:4]  ⁵⁷ sn The verb שָׁב, shav, “will turn” (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to turn”) continues the wordplay on שׁוּב in 14:1-4[2-5]. If Israel will “return” (שׁוּב) to the Lord, he will heal Israel’s tendency to “turn away” (מְשׁוּבָתָה, mÿshuvatah) and “turn” (שָׁב) from his anger.

[14:5]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “like Lebanon” (so KJV; also in the following verse). The phrase “a cedar of” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it is supplied in translation for clarity. Cf. TEV “the trees of Lebanon”; NRSV “the forests of Lebanon.”

[14:7]  ⁵⁹ tn Hosea uses the similar-sounding terms יָשֻׁבוּ יֹשְׁבֵי (yashuvu yoshve, “the dwellers will return”) to create a wordplay between the roots שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) and יָשַׁב (yashav, “to dwell; to reside”).

[14:7]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “they will cause the grain to live” or “they will revive the grain.” Some English versions treat this as a comparison: “they shall revive as the corn” (KJV); “will flourish like the grain” (NIV).

[14:8]  ⁶¹ tn The Hebrew expression מַה־לִּי עוֹד (mah-li ’od) is a formula of repudiation/emphatic denial that God has anything in common with idols: “I want to have nothing to do with […] any more!” Cf., e.g., Judg 11:12; 2 Sam 16:10; 19:23; 1 Kgs 17:18; 2 Kgs 3:13; 2 Chr 35:21; Jer 2:18; Ps 50:16; BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d.(c).

[14:8]  ⁶² tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity, as in the majority of English versions (including KJV).

[14:8]  ⁶³ tn Cf. KJV “a green fir tree”; NIV, NCV “a green pine tree”; NRSV “an evergreen cypress.”

[14:8]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “your fruit is found in me”; NRSV “your faithfulness comes from me.”

[14:9]  ⁶⁵ tn The shortened form of the prefix-conjugation verb וְיָבֵן (vÿyaven) indicates that it is a jussive rather than an imperfect. When a jussive comes from a superior to an inferior, it may connote exhortation and instruction or advice and counsel. For the functions of the jussive, see IBHS 568-70 §34.3.