Isaiah 2:11-12

2:11 Proud men will be brought low,

arrogant men will be humiliated; ¹ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ² 

in that day.

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ³ 

for ⁴  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

Isaiah 2:17

2:17 Proud men will be humiliated,

arrogant men will be brought low; ⁵ 

the Lord alone will be exalted ⁶ 

in that day.

Isaiah 10:33

10:33 Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,

is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. ⁷ 

The tallest trees ⁸  will be cut down,

the loftiest ones will be brought low.

Isaiah 25:11-12

25:11 Moab ⁹  will spread out its hands in the middle of it, ¹⁰ 

just as a swimmer spreads his hands to swim;

the Lord ¹¹  will bring down Moab’s ¹²  pride as it spreads its hands. ¹³ 

25:12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your ¹⁴  walls) ¹⁵  he will knock down,

he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 40:4

40:4 Every valley must be elevated,

and every mountain and hill leveled.

The rough terrain will become a level plain,

the rugged landscape a wide valley.

Isaiah 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ¹⁷  to your king, ¹⁸ 

along with many perfumes. ¹⁹ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ²⁰ 

[2:11]  ¹ tn Heb “and the eyes of the pride of men will be brought low, and the arrogance of men will be brought down.” The repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:11]  ² tn Or “elevated”; CEV “honored.”

[2:12]  ³ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the pride of men will be brought down, and the arrogance of men will be brought low.” As in v. 11, the repetition of the verbs שָׁפַל (shafal) and שָׁחָח (shakhakh) from v. 9 draws attention to the appropriate nature of the judgment. Those proud men who “bow low” before idols will be forced to “bow low” before God when he judges their sin.

[2:17]  ⁶ tn Or “elevated”; NCV “praised”; CEV “honored.”

[10:33]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads “with terrifying power,” or “with a crash.” מַעֲרָצָה (ma’aratsah, “terrifying power” or “crash”) occurs only here. Several have suggested an emendation to מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad, “ax”) parallel to “ax” in v. 34; see HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:448.

[10:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “the exalted of the height.” This could refer to the highest branches (cf. TEV) or the tallest trees (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[25:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:11]  ¹⁰ tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is probably the masculine noun מַתְבֵּן (matben, “heap of straw”) in v. 10 rather than the feminine noun מַדְמֵנָה (madmenah, “manure pile”), also in v. 10.

[25:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:11]  ¹² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Moab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:11]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text has, “he will bring down his pride along with the [?] of his hands.” The meaning of אָרְבּוֹת (’arbot), which occurs only here in the OT, is unknown. Some (see BDB 70 s.v. אָרְבָּה) translate “artifice, cleverness,” relating the form to the verbal root אָרָב (’arav, “to lie in wait, ambush”), but this requires some convoluted semantic reasoning. HALOT 83 s.v. *אָרְבָּה suggests the meaning “[nimble] movements.” The translation above, which attempts to relate the form to the preceding context, is purely speculative.

[25:12]  ¹¹ sn Moab is addressed.

[25:12]  ¹² tn Heb “a fortification, the high point of your walls.”

[25:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “he will bring [it] down, he will make [it] touch the ground, even to the dust.”

[57:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ¹⁶ sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.