Isaiah 18:1

The Lord Will Judge a Distant Land in the South

18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, ¹ 

the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

Isaiah 47:15

47:15 They will disappoint you, ² 

those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. ³ 

Each strays off in his own direction, ⁴ 

leaving no one to rescue you.”

Isaiah 7:20

7:20 At that time ⁵  the sovereign master will use a razor hired from the banks of the Euphrates River, ⁶  the king of Assyria, to shave the head and the pubic hair; ⁷  it will also shave off the beard.

Isaiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ⁸  The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. ⁹ 

In earlier times he ¹⁰  humiliated

the land of Zebulun,

and the land of Naphtali; ¹¹ 

but now he brings honor ¹² 

to the way of the sea,

the region beyond the Jordan,

and Galilee of the nations. ¹³ 

[18:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[47:15]  ² tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”

[47:15]  ³ tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.

[47:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”

[7:20]  ³ tn Heb “in that day” (so ASV, NASB); KJV “In the same day.”

[7:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “the river” (so KJV); NASB “the Euphrates.” The name of the river has been supplied in the present translation for clarity.

[7:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “the hair of the feet.” The translation assumes that the word “feet” is used here as a euphemism for the genitals. See BDB 920 s.v. רֶגֶל.

[9:1]  ⁴ sn In the Hebrew text (BHS) the chapter division comes one verse later than in the English Bible; 9:1 (8:23 HT). Thus 9:2-21 in the English Bible = 9:1-20 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[9:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads, “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her.” The feminine singular pronominal suffix “her” must refer to the land (cf. vv. 22a, 23b). So one could translate, “Indeed there will be no gloom for the land which was anxious.” In this case the statement introduces the positive message to follow. Some assume an emendation of לֹא (lo’, “no”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and of לָהּ (lah, “to her”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”), yielding this literal reading: “indeed there is gloom for him, for the one to whom there was anxiety for him.” In this case the statement concludes the preceding description of judgment.

[9:1]  ⁶ tn The Lord must be understood as the subject of the two verbs in this verse.

[9:1]  ⁷ sn The statement probably alludes to the Assyrian conquest of Israel in ca. 734-733 b.c., when Tiglath-pileser III annexed much of Israel’s territory and reduced Samaria to a puppet state.

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Heb Just as in earlier times he humiliated…, [in] the latter times he has brought honor.” The main verbs in vv. 1b-4 are Hebrew perfects. The prophet takes his rhetorical stance in the future age of restoration and describes future events as if they have already occurred. To capture the dramatic effect of the original text, the translation uses the English present or present perfect.

[9:1]  ⁹ sn These three geographical designations may refer to provinces established by the Assyrians in 734-733 b.c. The “way of the sea” is the province of Dor, along the Mediterranean coast, the “region beyond the Jordan” is the province of Gilead in Transjordan, and “Galilee of the nations” (a title that alludes to how the territory had been overrun by foreigners) is the province of Megiddo located west of the Sea of Galilee. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 374.