Isaiah 31:6

31:6 You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled! ¹ 

Isaiah 2:8

2:8 Their land is full of worthless idols;

they worship ²  the product of their own hands,

what their own fingers have fashioned.

Isaiah 49:9

49:9 You will say ³  to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those who are in dark dungeons, ⁴  ‘Emerge.’ ⁵ 

They will graze beside the roads;

on all the slopes they will find pasture.

Isaiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ⁶  The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. ⁷ 

In earlier times he ⁸  humiliated

the land of Zebulun,

and the land of Naphtali; ⁹ 

but now he brings honor ¹⁰ 

to the way of the sea,

the region beyond the Jordan,

and Galilee of the nations. ¹¹ 

[31:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p.

[2:8]  ² tn Or “bow down to” (NIV, NRSV).

[49:9]  ³ tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.

[49:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”

[49:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).

[9:1]  ⁴ sn In the Hebrew text (BHS) the chapter division comes one verse later than in the English Bible; 9:1 (8:23 HT). Thus 9:2-21 in the English Bible = 9:1-20 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[9:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads, “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her.” The feminine singular pronominal suffix “her” must refer to the land (cf. vv. 22a, 23b). So one could translate, “Indeed there will be no gloom for the land which was anxious.” In this case the statement introduces the positive message to follow. Some assume an emendation of לֹא (lo’, “no”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and of לָהּ (lah, “to her”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”), yielding this literal reading: “indeed there is gloom for him, for the one to whom there was anxiety for him.” In this case the statement concludes the preceding description of judgment.

[9:1]  ⁶ tn The Lord must be understood as the subject of the two verbs in this verse.

[9:1]  ⁷ sn The statement probably alludes to the Assyrian conquest of Israel in ca. 734-733 b.c., when Tiglath-pileser III annexed much of Israel’s territory and reduced Samaria to a puppet state.

[9:1]  ⁸ tn Heb Just as in earlier times he humiliated…, [in] the latter times he has brought honor.” The main verbs in vv. 1b-4 are Hebrew perfects. The prophet takes his rhetorical stance in the future age of restoration and describes future events as if they have already occurred. To capture the dramatic effect of the original text, the translation uses the English present or present perfect.

[9:1]  ⁹ sn These three geographical designations may refer to provinces established by the Assyrians in 734-733 b.c. The “way of the sea” is the province of Dor, along the Mediterranean coast, the “region beyond the Jordan” is the province of Gilead in Transjordan, and “Galilee of the nations” (a title that alludes to how the territory had been overrun by foreigners) is the province of Megiddo located west of the Sea of Galilee. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 374.