Isaiah 14:15

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

to the remote slopes of the pit. ² 

Isaiah 24:22

24:22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, ³ 

locked up in a prison,

and after staying there for a long time, ⁴  they will be punished. ⁵ 

Isaiah 38:18

38:18 Indeed ⁶  Sheol does not give you thanks;

death does not ⁷  praise you.

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

Isaiah 14:19

14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave

like a shoot that is thrown away. ⁸ 

You lie among ⁹  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ¹⁰  the stones of the pit, ¹¹ 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ¹² 

Isaiah 51:1

There is Hope for the Future

51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, ¹³ 

who seek the Lord!

Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,

at the quarry ¹⁴  from which you were dug! ¹⁵ 

[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.

[24:22]  ³ tn Heb “they will be gathered [in] a gathering [as] a prisoner in a cistern.” It is tempting to eliminate אֲסֵפָה (’asefah, “a gathering”) as dittographic or as a gloss, but sound repetition is one of the main characteristics of the style of this section of the chapter.

[24:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “and after a multitude of days.”

[24:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “visited” (so KJV, ASV). This verse can mean to visit for good or for evil. The translation assumes the latter, based on v. 21a. However, BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד B.Niph.2 suggests the meaning “visit graciously” here, in which case one might translate “they will be released.”

[38:18]  ⁵ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[38:18]  ⁶ tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.

[14:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

[14:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ¹⁰ tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

[14:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[51:1]  ⁹ tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”

[51:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”

[51:1]  ¹¹ sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.