Isaiah 42:9

42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; ¹ 

now I announce new events.

Before they begin to occur,

I reveal them to you.” ² 

Isaiah 47:9

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. ³ 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, ⁴ 

despite ⁵  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. ⁶ 

Isaiah 49:18

49:18 Look all around you! ⁷ 

All of them gather to you.

As surely as I live,” says the Lord,

“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;

you will put them on as if you were a bride.

Isaiah 60:4

60:4 Look all around you! ⁸ 

They all gather and come to you –

your sons come from far away

and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

Isaiah 7:17

7:17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time ⁹  unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah – the king of Assyria!” ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 37:3

37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ¹¹  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ¹²  and humiliation, ¹³  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 39:3

39:3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.”

[42:9]  ¹ tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”

[42:9]  ² tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).

[47:9]  ³ tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.

[47:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

[47:9]  ⁵ tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

[47:9]  ⁶ sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.

[49:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see.”

[60:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”

[7:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB); NASB, NRSV “such days.”

[7:17]  ¹⁰ sn Initially the prophecy appears to be a message of salvation. Immanuel seems to have a positive ring to it, sour milk and honey elsewhere symbolize prosperity and blessing (see Deut 32:13-14; Job 20:17), verse 16 announces the defeat of Judah’s enemies, and verse 17a could be taken as predicting a return to the glorious days of David and Solomon. However, the message turns sour in verses 17b-25. God will be with his people in judgment, as well as salvation. The curds and honey will be signs of deprivation, not prosperity, the relief announced in verse 16 will be short-lived, and the new era will be characterized by unprecedented humiliation, not a return to glory. Because of Ahaz’s refusal to trust the Lord, potential blessing would be transformed into a curse, just as Isaiah turns an apparent prophecy of salvation into a message of judgment. Because the words “the king of Assyria” are rather awkwardly tacked on to the end of the sentence, some regard them as a later addition. However, the very awkwardness facilitates the prophet’s rhetorical strategy here, as he suddenly turns what sounds like a positive message into a judgment speech. Actually, “the king of Assyria,” stands in apposition to the earlier object “days,” and specifies who the main character of these coming “days” will be.

[37:3]  ¹¹ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).

[37:3]  ¹² tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”

[37:3]  ¹³ tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”

[37:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”