Isaiah 10:9

10:9 Is not Calneh like Carchemish?

Hamath like Arpad?

Samaria like Damascus? ¹ 

Isaiah 59:11

59:11 We all growl like bears,

we coo mournfully like doves;

we wait for deliverance, ²  but there is none,

for salvation, but it is far from us.

Isaiah 64:8

64:8 Yet, ³  Lord, you are our father.

We are the clay, and you are our potter;

we are all the product of your labor. ⁴ 

[10:9]  ¹ sn Calneh … Carchemish … Hamath … Arpad … Samaria … Damascus. The city states listed here were conquered by the Assyrians between 740-717 b.c. The point of the rhetorical questions is that no one can stand before Assyria’s might. On the geographical, rather than chronological arrangement of the cities, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:264, n. 4.

[59:11]  ² tn See the note at v. 9.

[64:8]  ³ tn On the force of וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah) here, see HALOT 902 s.v. עַתָּה.

[64:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the work of your hand.”