Isaiah 14:15

14:15 But you were brought down ¹  to Sheol,

to the remote slopes of the pit. ² 

Isaiah 10:29

10:29 They went through the pass,

spent the night at Geba.

Ramah trembled,

Gibeah of Saul ran away.

Isaiah 14:11

14:11 Your splendor ³  has been brought down to Sheol,

as well as the sound of your stringed instruments. ⁴ 

You lie on a bed of maggots,

with a blanket of worms over you. ⁵ 

Isaiah 38:10

38:10 “I thought, ⁶ 

‘In the middle of my life ⁷  I must walk through the gates of Sheol,

I am deprived ⁸  of the rest of my years.’

Isaiah 38:18

38:18 Indeed ⁹  Sheol does not give you thanks;

death does not ¹⁰  praise you.

Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.

Isaiah 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ¹¹  to your king, ¹² 

along with many perfumes. ¹³ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 5:14

5:14 So Death ¹⁵  will open up its throat,

and open wide its mouth; ¹⁶ 

Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it,

including those who revel and celebrate within her. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 14:9

14:9 Sheol ¹⁸  below is stirred up about you,

ready to meet you when you arrive.

It rouses ¹⁹  the spirits of the dead for you,

all the former leaders of the earth; ²⁰ 

it makes all the former kings of the nations

rise from their thrones. ²¹ 

Isaiah 28:18

28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; ²² 

your agreement ²³  with Sheol will not last. ²⁴ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, ²⁵ 

you will be overrun by it. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 28:15

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ²⁷  we have made an agreement. ²⁸ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ²⁹ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ³⁰ 

[14:15]  ¹ tn The prefixed verb form is taken as a preterite. Note the use of perfects in v. 12 to describe the king’s downfall.

[14:15]  ² tn The Hebrew term בּוּר (bor, “cistern”) is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to the place of the dead or the entrance to the underworld.

[14:11]  ³ tn Or “pride” (NCV, CEV); KJV, NIV, NRSV “pomp.”

[14:11]  ⁴ tn Or “harps” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[14:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “under you maggots are spread out, and worms are your cover.”

[38:10]  ⁵ tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[38:10]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).

[38:10]  ⁷ tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”

[38:18]  ⁷ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[38:18]  ⁸ tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.

[57:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ¹² sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.

[5:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV); the underworld, the land of the dead, according to the OT world view. Cf. NAB “the nether world”; TEV, CEV “the world of the dead”; NLT “the grave.”

[5:14]  ¹² tn Heb “so Sheol will make wide its throat, and open its mouth without limit.”

[5:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “and her splendor and her masses will go down, and her tumult and the one who exults in her.” The antecedent of the four feminine singular pronominal suffixes used in v. 14b is unclear. The likely referent is personified Zion/Jerusalem (see 3:25-26; 4:4-5).

[14:9]  ¹³ sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead.

[14:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “arousing.” The form is probably a Polel infinitive absolute, rather than a third masculine singular perfect, for Sheol is grammatically feminine (note “stirred up”). See GKC 466 §145.t.

[14:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all the rams of the earth.” The animal epithet is used metaphorically here for leaders. See HALOT 903 s.v. *עַתּוּד.

[14:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lifting from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” הֵקִים (heqim, a Hiphil perfect third masculine singular) should be emended to an infinitive absolute (הָקֵים, haqem). See the note on “rouses” earlier in the verse.

[28:18]  ¹⁵ tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.

[28:18]  ¹⁶ tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ¹⁷ tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).

[28:18]  ¹⁸ tn See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”

[28:15]  ¹⁷ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ¹⁸ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ²⁰ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.