Isaiah 37:22-24

37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: ¹ 

“The virgin daughter Zion ² 

despises you – she makes fun of you;

daughter Jerusalem

shakes her head after you. ³ 

37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?

At whom have you shouted

and looked so arrogantly? ⁴ 

At the Holy One of Israel! ⁵ 

37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ⁶ 

‘With my many chariots I climbed up

the high mountains,

the slopes of Lebanon.

I cut down its tall cedars

and its best evergreens.

I invaded its most remote regions, ⁷ 

its thickest woods.

[37:22]  ¹ tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”

[37:22]  ² sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.

[37:22]  ³ sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.

[37:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”

[37:23]  ⁵ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[37:24]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[37:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”