Isaiah 32:19

32:19 Even if the forest is destroyed ¹ 

and the city is annihilated, ² 

Isaiah 10:34

10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,

and mighty Lebanon will fall. ³ 

Isaiah 22:8

22:8 They ⁴  removed the defenses ⁵  of Judah.

At that time ⁶  you looked

for the weapons in the House of the Forest. ⁷ 

Isaiah 9:18

9:18 For ⁸  evil burned like a fire, ⁹ 

it consumed thorns and briers;

it burned up the thickets of the forest,

and they went up in smoke. ¹⁰ 

[32:19]  ¹ tn Heb “and [?] when the forest descends.” The form וּבָרַד (uvarad) is often understood as an otherwise unattested denominative verb meaning “to hail” (HALOT 154 s.v. I ברד). In this case one might translate, “and it hails when the forest is destroyed” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV). Perhaps the text alludes to a powerful wind and hail storm that knocks down limbs and trees. Some prefer to emend the form to וְיָרַד (vÿyarad), “and it descends,” which provides better, though not perfect, symmetry with the parallel line (cf. NAB). Perhaps וּבָרַד should be dismissed as dittographic. In this case the statement (“when the forest descends”) lacks a finite verb and seems incomplete, but perhaps it is subordinate to v. 20.

[32:19]  ² tn Heb “and in humiliation the city is laid low.”

[10:34]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has, “and Lebanon, by/as [?] a mighty one, will fall.” The translation above takes the preposition בְּ (bet) prefixed to “mighty one” as indicating identity, “Lebanon, as a mighty one, will fall.” In this case “mighty one” describes Lebanon. (In Ezek 17:23 and Zech 11:2 the adjective is used of Lebanon’s cedars.) Another option is to take the preposition as indicating agency and interpret “mighty one” as a divine title (see Isa 33:21). One could then translate, “and Lebanon will fall by [the agency of] the Mighty One.”

[22:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “he,” i.e., the enemy invader. NASB, by its capitalization of the pronoun, takes this to refer to the Lord.

[22:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “covering.”

[22:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of v. 12.

[22:8]  ⁸ sn Perhaps this refers to a royal armory, or to Solomon’s “House of the Forest of Lebanon,” where weapons may have been kept (see 1 Kgs 10:16-17).

[9:18]  ⁷ tn Or “Indeed” (cf. NIV “Surely”). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[9:18]  ⁸ sn Evil was uncontrollable and destructive, and so can be compared to a forest fire.

[9:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they swirled [with] the rising of the smoke” (cf. NRSV).