Isaiah 14:21

14:21 Prepare to execute ¹  his sons

for the sins their ancestors have committed. ² 

They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,

or fill the surface of the world with cities.” ³ 

Isaiah 26:14

26:14 The dead do not come back to life,

the spirits of the dead do not rise. ⁴ 

That is because ⁵  you came in judgment ⁶  and destroyed them,

you wiped out all memory of them.

Isaiah 27:9

27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, ⁷ 

and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: ⁸ 

They will make all the stones of the altars ⁹ 

like crushed limestone,

and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. ¹⁰ 

[14:21]  ¹ tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”

[14:21]  ² tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”

[14:21]  ³ sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.

[26:14]  ⁴ sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.

[26:14]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.

[26:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”

[27:9]  ⁷ tn Or “be atoned for” (NIV); cf. NRSV “be expiated.”

[27:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and this [is] all the fruit of removing his sin.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear, though “removing his sin” certainly parallels “Jacob’s sin will be removed” in the preceding line. If original, “all the fruit” may refer to the result of the decision to remove sin, but the phrase may be a corruption of לְכַפֵּר (lekhaper, “to atone for”), which in turn might be a gloss on הָסִר (hasir, “removing”).

[27:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “when he makes the stones of an altar.” The singular “altar” is collective here; pagan altars are in view, as the last line of the verse indicates. See also 17:8.

[27:9]  ¹⁰ sn As interpreted and translated above, this verse says that Israel must totally repudiate its pagan religious practices in order to experience God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another option is to understand “in this way” and “this” in v. 9a as referring back to the judgment described in v. 8. In this case כָּפַר (kafar, “atone for”) is used in a sarcastic sense; Jacob’s sin is “atoned for” and removed through severe judgment. Following this line of interpretation, one might paraphrase the verse as follows: “So in this way (through judgment) Jacob’s sin will be “atoned for,” and this is the way his sin will be removed, when he (i.e., God) makes all the altar stones like crushed limestone….” This interpretation is more consistent with the tone of judgment in vv. 8 and 10-11.