Isaiah 2:4

2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;

he will settle cases for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ¹ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ² 

Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Isaiah 10:24

10:24 So ³  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ⁴ 

Isaiah 30:6

30:6 This is a message ⁵  about the animals in the Negev:

Through a land of distress and danger,

inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, ⁶ 

by snakes and darting adders, ⁷ 

they transport ⁸  their wealth on the backs of donkeys,

their riches on the humps of camels,

to a nation that cannot help them. ⁹ 

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. ¹⁰  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ¹¹  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ¹² 

Isaiah 39:6

39:6 ‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors ¹³  have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.

Isaiah 40:26

40:26 Look up at the sky! ¹⁴ 

Who created all these heavenly lights? ¹⁵ 

He is the one who leads out their ranks; ¹⁶ 

he calls them all by name.

Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,

not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ¹⁷  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ¹⁸  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ¹⁹  will not disappear. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 53:12

53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, ²¹ 

he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, ²² 

because he willingly submitted ²³  to death

and was numbered with the rebels,

when he lifted up the sin of many

and intervened ²⁴  on behalf of the rebels.”

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ²⁵  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ²⁶ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ²⁷ 

Isaiah 66:12

66:12 For this is what the Lord says:

“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,

the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. ²⁸ 

You will nurse from her breast ²⁹  and be carried at her side;

you will play on her knees.

[2:4]  ¹ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[2:4]  ² sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:93; M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle. Breaking weapons and fashioning agricultural implements indicates a transition from fear and stress to peace and security.

[10:24]  ³ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

[10:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[30:6]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”

[30:6]  ⁶ tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.

[30:6]  ⁸ tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:6]  ⁹ sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.

[37:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

[37:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

[37:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

[39:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).

[40:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”

[40:26]  ¹² tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.

[40:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)

[51:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[53:12]  ¹⁵ tn Scholars have debated the precise meaning of the term רַבִּים (rabbim) that occurs five times in this passage (Isa 52:14, 15; 53:11, 12 [2x]). Its two broad categories of translation are “much”/“many” and “great” (HALOT 1171-72 s.v. I רַב). Unlike other Hebrew terms for might or strength, this term is linked with numbers or abundance. In all sixteen uses outside of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (articular and plural) it signifies an inclusive meaning: “the majority” or “the multitude” (J. Jeremias, TDNT 6:536-37). This term occurs in parallelism with עֲצוּמִים (’atsumim), which normally signifies “numerous” or “large” or “powerful” (through large numbers). Like רַבִּים (rabbim), it refers to greatness in numbers (cf. Deut 4:38; 7:1; 9:1; 11:34). It emphasizes the multitudes with whom the Servant will share the spoil of his victory. As J. Olley wrote: “Yahweh has won the victory and vindicates his Servant, giving to him many subservient people, together with their spoils. These numerous peoples in turn receive blessing, sharing in the “peace” resulting from Yahweh’s victory and the Servant’s suffering” (John W. Olley, “‘The Many’: How Is Isa 53,12a to Be Understood,” Bib 68 [1987]: 330-56).

[53:12]  ¹⁶ sn The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.

[53:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “because he laid bare his life”; traditionally, ASV “because he (+ hath KJV) poured out his soul (life NIV) unto death.”

[53:12]  ¹⁸ tn The Hiphil of פָּגַע (paga’) can mean “cause to attack” (v. 6), “urge, plead verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25), or “intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16). Perhaps the third nuance fits best here, for military imagery is employed in the first two lines of the verse.

[57:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[66:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”

[66:12]  ²⁰ tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).