Isaiah 37:7

37:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; ¹  he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down ²  with a sword in his own land.”’”

Isaiah 37:29

37:29 Because you rage against me

and the uproar you create has reached my ears, ³ 

I will put my hook in your nose, ⁴ 

and my bridle between your lips,

and I will lead you back

the way you came.”

Isaiah 31:9

31:9 They will surrender their stronghold ⁵  because of fear; ⁶ 

their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.” ⁷ 

This is what the Lord says –

the one whose fire is in Zion,

whose firepot is in Jerusalem. ⁸ 

[37:7]  ¹ tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.

[37:7]  ² tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”

[37:29]  ³ tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).

[37:29]  ⁴ sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.

[31:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “rocky cliff” (cf. ASV, NASB “rock”), viewed metaphorically as a place of defense and security.

[31:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “His rocky cliff, because of fear, will pass away [i.e., “perish”].”

[31:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they will be afraid of the flag, his officers.”

[31:9]  ⁸ sn The “fire” and “firepot” here symbolize divine judgment, which is heating up like a fire in Jerusalem, waiting to be used against the Assyrians when they attack the city.