Isaiah 2:3

2:3 many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple of the God of Jacob,

so ¹  he can teach us his requirements, ² 

and ³  we can follow his standards.” ⁴ 

For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; ⁵ 

the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. ⁶ 

Isaiah 6:13

6:13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, ⁷  like one of the large sacred trees ⁸  or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. ⁹  That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 43:9

43:9 All nations gather together,

the peoples assemble.

Who among them announced this?

Who predicted earlier events for us? ¹¹ 

Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;

let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’

Isaiah 47:8

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ¹² 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ¹³ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ¹⁴ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 49:6

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant ¹⁶  of Israel? ¹⁷ 

I will make you a light to the nations, ¹⁸ 

so you can bring ¹⁹  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ²⁰  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ²¹  instead of discouragement. ²² 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ²³ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ²⁴ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn The prefixed verb form with simple vav (ו) introduces a purpose/result clause after the preceding prefixed verb form (probably to be taken as a cohortative; see IBHS 650 §39.2.2a).

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.

[2:3]  ³ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk in his ways.”

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[6:13]  ⁷ tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”

[6:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).

[6:13]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.

[6:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.

[43:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the former things was causing us to hear?”

[47:8]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ²² tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[49:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”

[49:6]  ²⁶ sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.

[49:6]  ²⁷ tn See the note at 42:6.

[49:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”

[61:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ³² tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ³³ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ³⁴ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”