Isaiah 46:1-2

The Lord Carries His People

46:1 Bel ¹  kneels down,

Nebo ²  bends low.

Their images weigh down animals and beasts. ³ 

Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. ⁴ 

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ⁵ 

they themselves ⁶  head off into captivity. ⁷ 

Isaiah 10:4

10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,

or to fall among those who have been killed. ⁸ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁹ 

Isaiah 45:23

45:23 I solemnly make this oath ¹⁰  –

what I say is true and reliable: ¹¹ 

‘Surely every knee will bow to me,

every tongue will solemnly affirm; ¹² 

Isaiah 65:12

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ¹³ 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ¹⁴ 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ¹⁵ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

[46:1]  ¹ sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.

[46:1]  ² sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.

[46:1]  ³ tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”

[46:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”

[46:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ⁶ tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ⁷ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

[10:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.

[10:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”

[45:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”

[45:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”

[45:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”

[65:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”