Isaiah 28:20

28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,

and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. ¹ 

Isaiah 8:22

8:22 When one looks out over the land, he sees ²  distress and darkness, gloom ³  and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land. ⁴ 

Isaiah 33:2

33:2 Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you.

Give us strength each morning! ⁵ 

Deliver us when distress comes. ⁶ 

Isaiah 30:6

30:6 This is a message ⁷  about the animals in the Negev:

Through a land of distress and danger,

inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, ⁸ 

by snakes and darting adders, ⁹ 

they transport ¹⁰  their wealth on the backs of donkeys,

their riches on the humps of camels,

to a nation that cannot help them. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 37:3

37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ¹²  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ¹³  and humiliation, ¹⁴  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ¹⁵ 

[28:20]  ¹ sn The bed and blanket probably symbolize their false sense of security. A bed that is too short and a blanket that is too narrow may promise rest and protection from the cold, but in the end they are useless and disappointing. In the same way, their supposed treaty with death will prove useless and disappointing.

[8:22]  ² tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[8:22]  ³ tn The precise meaning of מְעוּף (mÿ’uf) is uncertain; the word occurs only here. See BDB 734 s.v. מָעוּף.

[8:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “ and darkness, pushed.” The word מְנֻדָּח (mÿnudakh) appears to be a Pual participle from נדח (“push”), but the Piel is unattested for this verb and the Pual occurs only here.

[33:2]  ³ tn Heb “Be their arm each morning.” “Arm” is a symbol for strength. The mem suffixed to the noun has been traditionally understood as a third person suffix, but this is contrary to the context, where the people speak of themselves in the first person. The mem (מ) is probably enclitic with ellipsis of the pronoun, which can be supplied from the context. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:589, n. 1.

[33:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “[Be] also our deliverance in the time of distress.”

[30:6]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”

[30:6]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:6]  ⁸ sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.

[37:3]  ⁵ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).

[37:3]  ⁶ tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”

[37:3]  ⁷ tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”

[37:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”