Isaiah 23:14

23:14 Wail, you large ships, ¹ 

for your fortress is destroyed!

Isaiah 25:4

25:4 For you are a protector for the poor,

a protector for the needy in their distress,

a shelter from the rainstorm,

a shade from the heat.

Though the breath of tyrants ²  is like a winter rainstorm, ³ 

Isaiah 23:11

23:11 The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea, ⁴ 

he shook kingdoms;

he ⁵  gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses. ⁶ 

Isaiah 27:5

27:5 unless they became my subjects ⁷ 

and made peace with me;

let them make peace with me. ⁸ 

Isaiah 30:2-3

30:2 They travel down to Egypt

without seeking my will, ⁹ 

seeking Pharaoh’s protection,

and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ¹⁰ 

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Isaiah 17:9-10

17:9 At that time ¹¹  their fortified cities will be

like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, ¹² 

which they abandoned because of the Israelites;

there will be desolation.

17:10 For you ignore ¹³  the God who rescues you;

you pay no attention to your strong protector. ¹⁴ 

So this is what happens:

You cultivate beautiful plants

and plant exotic vines. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 23:4

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea ¹⁶  says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.” ¹⁷ 

[23:14]  ¹ tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” See the note at v. 1.

[25:4]  ² tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”

[25:4]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion.

[23:11]  ³ tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.”

[23:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” For stylistic reasons the pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation here.

[23:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “concerning Canaan, to destroy her fortresses.” NIV, NLT translate “Canaan” as “Phoenicia” here.

[27:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “or let him take hold of my refuge.” The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is uncertain. Apparently the symbolic “thorns and briers” are in view, though in v. 4b a feminine singular pronoun was used to refer to them.

[27:5]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text has, “he makes peace with me, peace he makes with me.” Some contend that two alternative readings are preserved here and one should be deleted. The first has the object שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) preceding the verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “make”); the second reverses the order. Another option is to retain both statements, although repetitive, to emphasize the need to make peace with Yahweh.

[30:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

[17:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[17:9]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “like the abandonment of the wooded height and the top one.” The following relative clause appears to allude back to the Israelite conquest of the land, so it seems preferable to emend הַחֹרֶשׁ וְהָאָמִיר (hakhoresh vÿha’amir, “the wooded height and the top one”) to חֹרֵשֵׁי הָאֱמֹרִי (khoreshe ha’emori, “[like the abandonment] of the wooded heights of the Amorites”).

[17:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “you have forgotten” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[17:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the rocky cliff of your strength you do not remember.”

[17:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “a vine, a strange one.” The substantival adjective זָר (zar) functions here as an appositional genitive. It could refer to a cultic plant of some type, associated with a pagan rite. But it is more likely that it refers to an exotic, or imported, type of vine, one that is foreign (i.e., “strange”) to Israel.

[23:4]  ⁸ tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.

[23:4]  ⁹ tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).