Isaiah 37:18-19

37:18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations ¹  and their lands. 37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, ²  for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. ³ 

Isaiah 10:7-14

10:7 But he does not agree with this,

his mind does not reason this way, ⁴ 

for his goal is to destroy,

and to eliminate many nations. ⁵ 

10:8 Indeed, ⁶  he says:

“Are not my officials all kings?

10:9 Is not Calneh like Carchemish?

Hamath like Arpad?

Samaria like Damascus? ⁷ 

10:10 I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols, ⁸ 

whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s ⁹  or Samaria’s.

10:11 As I have done to Samaria and its idols,

so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.” ¹⁰ 

10:12 But when ¹¹  the sovereign master ¹²  finishes judging ¹³  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ¹⁴  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ¹⁵  10:13 For he says:

“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,

by my strategy that I devised.

I invaded the territory of nations, ¹⁶ 

and looted their storehouses.

Like a mighty conqueror, ¹⁷  I brought down rulers. ¹⁸ 

10:14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest,

as one gathers up abandoned eggs,

I gathered up the whole earth.

There was no wing flapping,

or open mouth chirping.” ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 14:17

14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,

who ruined its ²⁰  cities,

and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ²¹ 

Isaiah 36:18-20

36:18 Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? ²²  36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? ²³  Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria ²⁴  from my power? ²⁵  36:20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” ²⁶ 

Isaiah 36:2

36:2 The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser ²⁷  from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, ²⁸  along with a large army. The chief adviser ²⁹  stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. ³⁰ 

Isaiah 17:4-6

17:4 “At that time ³¹ 

Jacob’s splendor will be greatly diminished, ³² 

and he will become skin and bones. ³³ 

17:5 It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest,

and his hand gleans the ear of grain.

It will be like one gathering the ears of grain

in the Valley of Rephaim.

17:6 There will be some left behind,

like when an olive tree is beaten –

two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,

four or five on its fruitful branches,”

says the Lord God of Israel.

Isaiah 18:1

The Lord Will Judge a Distant Land in the South

18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, ³⁴ 

the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

[37:18]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text here has “all the lands,” but the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:17 has “the nations.”

[37:19]  ² tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”

[37:19]  ³ tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).

[10:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “but he, not so does he intend, and his heart, not so does it think.”

[10:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “for to destroy [is] in his heart, and to cut off nations, not a few.”

[10:8]  ⁶ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[10:9]  ⁷ sn Calneh … Carchemish … Hamath … Arpad … Samaria … Damascus. The city states listed here were conquered by the Assyrians between 740-717 b.c. The point of the rhetorical questions is that no one can stand before Assyria’s might. On the geographical, rather than chronological arrangement of the cities, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:264, n. 4.

[10:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “Just as my hand found the kingdoms of the idol[s].” The comparison is expanded in v. 11a (note “as”) and completed in v. 11b (note “so”).

[10:10]  ⁹ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:11]  ¹⁰ tn The statement is constructed as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text: “Is it not [true that] just as I have done to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols?”

[10:12]  ¹¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[10:12]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 23, 24, 33 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[10:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “his work on/against.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “on”; NIV “against.”

[10:12]  ¹⁴ tn The Lord is speaking here, as in vv. 5-6a.

[10:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will visit [judgment] on the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of the height of his eyes.” The proud Assyrian king is likened to a large, beautiful fruit tree.

[10:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”

[10:13]  ¹⁷ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).

[10:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.

[10:14]  ¹⁹ sn The Assyrians’ conquests were relatively unopposed, like robbing a bird’s nest of its eggs when the mother bird is absent.

[14:17]  ²⁰ tc The pronominal suffix is masculine, even though its antecedent appears to be the grammatically feminine noun “world.” Some have suggested that the form עָרָיו (’arayv, plural noun with third masculine singular suffix) should be emended to עָרֶיהָ (’areha, plural noun with third feminine singular suffix). This emendation may be unnecessary in light of other examples of lack of agreement a suffix and its antecedent noun.

[14:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “and his prisoners did not let loose to [their] homes.” This really means, “he did not let loose his prisoners and send them back to their homes.’ On the elliptical style, see GKC 366 §117.o.

[36:18]  ²² tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!”

[36:19]  ²³ tn The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”

[36:19]  ²⁴ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[36:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).

[36:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?

[36:2]  ²⁷ sn For a discussion of this title see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.

[36:2]  ²⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[36:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the chief adviser) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[36:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[17:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[17:4]  ³² tn Heb “will be tiny.”

[17:4]  ³³ tn Heb “and the fatness of his flesh will be made lean.”

[18:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.