Isaiah 3:13

3:13 The Lord takes his position to judge;

he stands up to pass sentence on his people. ¹ 

Isaiah 27:8

27:8 When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her; ² 

he drives her away ³  with his strong wind in the day of the east wind. ⁴ 

Isaiah 1:17

1:17 Learn to do what is right!

Promote justice!

Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! ⁵ 

Take up the cause of the orphan!

Defend the rights of the widow! ⁶ 

Isaiah 50:8

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

Who dares to argue with me? Let us confront each other! ⁷ 

Who is my accuser? ⁸  Let him challenge me! ⁹ 

Isaiah 45:9

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ¹⁰ 

one who is like a mere ¹¹  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ¹² 

“What in the world ¹³  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 57:16

57:16 For I will not be hostile ¹⁵  forever

or perpetually angry,

for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, ¹⁶ 

the life-giving breath I created.

Isaiah 49:25

49:25 Indeed,” says the Lord,

“captives will be taken from a warrior;

spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.

I will oppose your adversary

and I will rescue your children.

Isaiah 51:22

51:22 This is what your sovereign master, ¹⁷  the Lord your God, says:

“Look, I have removed from your hand

the cup of intoxicating wine, ¹⁸ 

the goblet full of my anger. ¹⁹ 

You will no longer have to drink it.

[3:13]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has “nations,” but the preceding and following contexts make it clear that the Lord is judging his covenant people. עָמִים (’amim) should be changed (with support from the LXX) to עמו. The final mem (ם) on the form in the Hebrew is either dittographic or enclitic. When the mem was added or read as a plural ending, the vav (ו) was then misread as a yod (י).

[27:8]  ² tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “in [?], in sending her away, you oppose her.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The form בְּסַאסְּאָה (bÿsa’ssÿ’ah) is taken as an infinitive from סַאסְּאָה (sa’ssÿ’ah) with a prepositional prefix and a third feminine singular suffix. (The MT does not have a mappiq in the final he [ה], however). According to HALOT 738 s.v. סַאסְּאָה the verb is a Palpel form from an otherwise unattested root cognate with an Arabic verb meaning “to gather beasts with a call.” Perhaps it means “to call, summon” here, but this is a very tentative proposal. בְּשַׁלְחָהּ (bÿshalkhah, “in sending her away”) appears to be a Piel infinitive with a prepositional prefix and a third feminine singular suffix. Since the Piel of שָׁלָח (shalakh) can sometimes mean “divorce” (HALOT 1514-15 s.v.) and the following verb רִיב (riv, “oppose”) can be used in legal contexts, it is possible that divorce proceedings are alluded to here. This may explain why Israel is referred to as feminine in this verse, in contrast to the masculine forms used in vv. 6-7 and 9.

[27:8]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has no object expressed, but one can understand a third feminine singular pronominal object and place a mappiq in the final he (ה) of the form to indicate the suffix.

[27:8]  ⁴ sn The “east wind” here symbolizes violent divine judgment.

[1:17]  ³ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The translation assumes an emendation of חָמוֹץ (khamots, “oppressor [?]”) to חָמוּץ (khamuts, “oppressed”), a passive participle from II חָמַץ (khamats, “oppress”; HALOT 329 s.v. II חמץ) and takes the verb II אָשַׁר (’ashar) in the sense of “make happy” (the delocutive Piel, meaning “call/pronounce happy,” is metonymic here, referring to actually effecting happiness). The parallelism favors this interpretation, for the next two lines speak of positive actions on behalf of the destitute. The other option is to retain the MT pointing and translate, “set right the oppressor,” but the nuance “set right” is not clearly attested elsewhere for the verb I אשׁר. This verb does appear as a participle in Isa 3:12 and 9:16 with the meaning “to lead or guide.” If it can mean to “lead” or “rebuke/redirect” in this verse, the prophet could be contrasting this appeal for societal reformation (v. 17c) with a command to reorder their personal lives (v. 17a-b). J. A. Motyer (The Prophecy of Isaiah, 47) suggests that these three statements (v. 17a-c) provide “the contrast between the two ends of imperfect society, the oppressor and the needy, the one inflicting and the other suffering the hurt. Isaiah looks for a transformed society wherever it needs transforming.”

[1:17]  ⁴ tn This word refers to a woman who has lost her husband, by death or divorce. The orphan and widow are often mentioned in the OT as epitomizing the helpless and impoverished who have been left without the necessities of life due to the loss of a family provider.

[50:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “Let us stand together!”

[50:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “Who is the master of my judgment?”

[50:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “let him approach me”; NAB, NIV “Let him confront me.”

[45:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ⁶ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ⁸ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”

[57:16]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps, “argue,” or “accuse” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “for a spirit from before me would be faint.”

[51:22]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[51:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “the cup of [= that causes] staggering” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV); NASB “the cup of reeling.”

[51:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “the goblet of the cup of my anger.”