Isaiah 3:4

3:4 The Lord says, ¹  “I will make youths their officials;

malicious young men ²  will rule over them.

Isaiah 40:30

40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;

even strong young men clumsily stumble. ³ 

Isaiah 10:19

10:19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,

a child will be able to count them. ⁴ 

Isaiah 3:5

3:5 The people will treat each other harshly;

men will oppose each other;

neighbors will fight. ⁵ 

Youths will proudly defy the elderly

and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ⁶ 

Isaiah 13:18

13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; ⁷ 

they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, ⁸ 

they will not ⁹  look with pity on children.

Isaiah 7:16

7:16 Here is why this will be so: ¹⁰  Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land ¹¹  whose two kings you fear will be desolate. ¹² 

Isaiah 8:4

8:4 for before the child knows how to cry out, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria ¹³  will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 11:6

11:6 A wolf will reside ¹⁵  with a lamb,

and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;

an ox and a young lion will graze together, ¹⁶ 

as a small child leads them along.

Isaiah 20:4

20:4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, both young and old. They will be in undergarments and barefoot, with the buttocks exposed; the Egyptians will be publicly humiliated. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 37:6

37:6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard – these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 65:20

65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days ¹⁹ 

or an old man die before his time. ²⁰ 

Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, ²¹ 

anyone who fails to reach ²²  the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

[3:4]  ¹ tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The prophet speaks in vv. 1-3 (note the third person reference to the Lord in v. 1), but here the Lord himself announces that he will intervene in judgment. It is unclear where the Lord’s words end and the prophet’s pick up again. The prophet is apparently speaking again by v. 8, where the Lord is referred to in the third person. Since vv. 4-7 comprise a thematic unity, the quotation probably extends through v. 7.

[3:4]  ² tn תַעֲלוּלִים (ta’alulim) is often understood as an abstract plural meaning “wantonness, cruelty” (cf. NLT). In this case the chief characteristic of these leaders is substituted for the leaders themselves. However, several translations make the parallelism tighter by emending the form to עוֹלְלִים (’olÿlim, “children”; cf. ESV, NASB, NCV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV). This emendation is unnecessary for at least two reasons. The word in the MT highlights the cruelty or malice of the “leaders” who are left behind in the wake of God’s judgment. The immediate context makes clear the fact that they are mere youths. The coming judgment will sweep away the leaders, leaving a vacuum which will be filled by incompetent, inexperienced youths.

[40:30]  ³ tn Heb “stumbling they stumble.” The verbal idea is emphasized by the infinitive absolute.

[10:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the rest of the trees of his forest will be counted, and a child will record them.”

[3:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “man against man, and a man against his neighbor.”

[3:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and those lightly esteemed those who are respected.” The verb רָהַב (rahav) does double duty in the parallelism.

[13:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “and bows cut to bits young men.” “Bows” stands by metonymy for arrows.

[13:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the fruit of the womb.”

[13:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their eye does not.” Here “eye” is a metonymy for the whole person.

[7:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for, because.” The particle introduces the entire following context (vv. 16-25), which explains why Immanuel will be an appropriate name for the child, why he will eat sour milk and honey, and why experiencing such a diet will contribute to his moral development.

[7:16]  ¹² sn Since “two kings” are referred to later in the verse, the “land” must here refer to Syria-Israel.

[7:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “the land will be abandoned, which you fear because of its two kings.” After the verb קוּץ (quts, “loathe, dread”) the phrase מִפְּנֵי (mipney, “from before”) introduces the cause of loathing/dread (see Gen 27:46; Exod 1:12; Num 22:3).

[8:4]  ¹³ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[8:4]  ¹⁴ sn The child’s name foreshadows what will happen to Judah’s enemies; when their defeat takes place, the child will be a reminder that God predicted the event and brought it to pass. As such the child will be a reminder of God’s protective presence with his people.

[11:6]  ¹⁵ tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident alien in another society.

[11:6]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umÿri’, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimrÿ’u, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsa^a). The present translation assumes this change.

[20:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “lightly dressed and barefoot, and bare with respect to the buttocks, the nakedness of Egypt.”

[37:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”

[65:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.

[65:20]  ²² tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”

[65:20]  ²³ tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.

[65:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”