Isaiah 18:2

18:2 that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, ¹ 

to a people that are feared far and wide, ² 

to a nation strong and victorious, ³ 

whose land rivers divide. ⁴ 

Isaiah 36:2

36:2 The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser ⁵  from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, ⁶  along with a large army. The chief adviser ⁷  stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. ⁸ 

Isaiah 36:12

36:12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. ⁹  His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!” ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 37:2

37:2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, ¹¹  clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

Isaiah 37:4

37:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. ¹²  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ¹³  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 37:21

37:21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 55:11

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹⁶ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ¹⁸  me. ¹⁹ 

He has commissioned ²⁰  me to encourage ²¹  the poor,

to help ²²  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Isaiah 66:19

66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ²³  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ²⁴  Lud ²⁵  (known for its archers ²⁶ ), Tubal, Javan, ²⁷  and to the distant coastlands ²⁸  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

[18:2]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (mÿmushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ² tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”

[18:2]  ³ tn Once more the precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. The expression קַו־קָו (qav-qav) is sometimes related to a proposed Arabic cognate and taken to mean “strength” (see BDB 876 II קַו). Others, on the basis of Isa 28:10, 13, understand the form as gibberish (literally, “kav, kav”) and take it to be a reference to this nation’s strange, unknown language. The form מְבוּסָה (mÿvusah) appears to be derived from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”), so lexicographers suggest the meaning “trampling” or “subjugation,” i.e., a nation that subdues others. See BDB 101 s.v. בּוּס and HALOT 541 s.v. מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ⁴ tn The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (baza’), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. BDB 102 s.v. suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; HALOT 117 s.v., citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”

[36:2]  ⁵ sn For a discussion of this title see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.

[36:2]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[36:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the chief adviser) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[36:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[36:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.

[36:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”

[37:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”

[37:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

[37:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

[37:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

[37:21]  ²¹ tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:20 reads, “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense: “because.”

[55:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

[55:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”

[61:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ³⁰ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ³¹ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ³² tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ³³ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[66:19]  ³³ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

[66:19]  ³⁴ tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ³⁵ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ³⁶ tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ³⁷ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ³⁸ tn Or “islands” (NIV).