Isaiah 30:30-33

30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout ¹ 

and intervene in power, ² 

with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ³ 

with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

30:31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria; ⁴ 

he will beat them with a club.

30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel, ⁵ 

with which the Lord will beat them, ⁶ 

will be accompanied by music from the ⁷  tambourine and harp,

and he will attack them with his weapons. ⁸ 

30:33 For ⁹  the burial place is already prepared; ¹⁰ 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ¹¹ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ¹² 

The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,

will ignite it.

[30:30]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ² tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ³ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[30:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “Indeed by the voice of the Lord Assyria will be shattered.”

[30:32]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text has “every blow from a founded [i.e., “appointed”?] cudgel.” The translation above, with support from a few medieval Hebrew mss, assumes an emendation of מוּסָדָה (musadah, “founded”) to מוּסָרֹה (musaroh, “his discipline”).

[30:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “which the Lord lays on him.”

[30:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “will be with” (KJV similar).

[30:32]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and with battles of brandishing [weapons?] he will fight against him.” Some prefer to emend וּבְמִלְחֲמוֹת (uvÿmilkhamot, “and with battles of”) to וּבִמְחֹלוֹת (uvimkholot, “and with dancing”). Note the immediately preceding references to musical instruments.

[30:33]  ⁹ tn Or “indeed.”

[30:33]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).

[30:33]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”

[30:33]  ¹² tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”