Isaiah 37:27

37:27 Their residents are powerless; ¹ 

they are terrified and ashamed.

They are as short-lived as plants in the field

or green vegetation. ² 

They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops ³ 

when it is scorched by the east wind. ⁴ 

Isaiah 42:22

42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;

all of them are trapped in pits ⁵ 

and held captive ⁶  in prisons.

They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;

they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” ⁷ 

Isaiah 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ⁸  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ⁹ 

Isaiah 59:2

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. ¹⁰ 

[37:27]  ¹ tn Heb “short of hand”; KJV, ASV “of small power”; NASB “short of strength.”

[37:27]  ² tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.

[37:27]  ³ tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.

[37:27]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah, “standing grain”) to קָדִים (qadim, “east wind”) with the support of 1Q Isa^a; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:657, n. 8.

[42:22]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).

[42:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”

[42:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”

[47:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

[59:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”