Isaiah 22:3

22:3 ¹ All your leaders ran away together –

they fled to a distant place;

all your refugees ²  were captured together –

they were captured without a single arrow being shot. ³ 

Isaiah 27:4

27:4 I am not angry.

I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!

Then I would march against them ⁴  for battle;

I would set them ⁵  all on fire,

Isaiah 42:14

42:14 “I have been inactive ⁶  for a long time;

I kept quiet and held back.

Like a woman in labor I groan;

I pant and gasp. ⁷ 

Isaiah 50:8

50:8 The one who vindicates me is close by.

Who dares to argue with me? Let us confront each other! ⁸ 

Who is my accuser? ⁹  Let him challenge me! ¹⁰ 

[22:3]  ¹ tn Verse 3 reads literally, “All your leaders ran away, apart from a bow they were captured, all your found ones were captured together, to a distant place they fled.” J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:403, n. 3) suggests that the lines of the verse are arranged chiastically; lines 1 and 4 go together, while lines 2 and 3 are parallel. To translate the lines in the order they appear in the Hebrew text is misleading to the English reader, who is likely unfamiliar with, or at least insensitive to, chiastic parallelism. Consequently, the translation above arranges the lines as follows: line 1 (Hebrew) = line 1 (in translation); line 2 (Hebrew) = line 4 (in translation); line 3 (Hebrew) = line 3 (in translation); line 4 (Hebrew) = line 2 (in translation).

[22:3]  ² tn Heb “all your found ones.” To achieve tighter parallelism (see “your leaders”) some prefer to emend the form to אַמִּיצַיִךְ (’ammitsayikh, “your strong ones”) or to נֶאֱמָצַיִךְ (ne’ematsayikh, “your strengthened ones”).

[22:3]  ³ tn Heb “apart from [i.e., without] a bow they were captured”; cf. NAB, NRSV “without the use of a bow.”

[27:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense. For other examples of a cohortative expressing resolve after a hypothetical statement introduced by נָתַן with מִי (miwith natan), see Judg 9:29; Jer 9:1-2; Ps 55:6.

[27:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense.

[42:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “silent” (so NASB, NIV, TEV, NLT); CEV “have held my temper.”

[42:14]  ⁸ sn The imagery depicts the Lord as a warrior who is eager to fight and can no longer hold himself back from the attack.

[50:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Let us stand together!”

[50:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Who is the master of my judgment?”

[50:8]  ¹² tn Heb “let him approach me”; NAB, NIV “Let him confront me.”