Isaiah 3:5

3:5 The people will treat each other harshly;

men will oppose each other;

neighbors will fight. ¹ 

Youths will proudly defy the elderly

and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ² 

Isaiah 7:16

7:16 Here is why this will be so: ³  Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land ⁴  whose two kings you fear will be desolate. ⁵ 

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 ⁶  will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” ⁷ 

Isaiah 65:20

65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days ⁸ 

or an old man die before his time. ⁹ 

Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, ¹⁰ 

anyone who fails to reach ¹¹  the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Heb “man against man, and a man against his neighbor.”

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “and those lightly esteemed those who are respected.” The verb רָהַב (rahav) does double duty in the parallelism.

[7:16]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn Since “two kings” are referred to later in the verse, the “land” must here refer to Syria-Israel.

[7:16]  ⁵ 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]  ⁵ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[8:4]  ⁶ 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.

[65:20]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”

[65:20]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.”