Isaiah 5:18-19

5:18 Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, ¹ 

who pull sin as with cart ropes. ² 

5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, ³ 

so we can see;

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel ⁴  take shape ⁵  and come to pass,

then we will know it!”

Ecclesiastes 8:8

8:8 Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, ⁶ 

so no one has power over the day of his ⁷  death.

Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, ⁸ 

so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. ⁹ 

Job 5:23

5:23 For you will have a pact with the stones ¹⁰  of the field,

and the wild animals ¹¹  will be at peace ¹²  with you.

Job 15:25-27

15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God, ¹³ 

and vaunts himself ¹⁴  against the Almighty,

15:26 defiantly charging against him ¹⁵ 

with a thick, strong shield! ¹⁶ 

15:27 Because he covered his face with fat, ¹⁷ 

and made ¹⁸  his hips bulge with fat, ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 44:17

44:17 Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do. ²⁰  We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven ²¹  just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders previously did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and had no troubles. ²² 

Ezekiel 8:12

8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? ²³  For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’”

Hosea 2:18

New Covenant Relationship with Repentant Israel

2:18 “At that time ²⁴  I will make a covenant for them with the wild animals,

the birds of the air, and the creatures that crawl on the ground.

I will abolish ²⁵  the warrior’s bow and sword

– that is, every weapon of warfare ²⁶  – from the land,

and I will allow them to live securely.” ²⁷ 

Zephaniah 1:12

1:12 At that time I will search through Jerusalem with lamps.

I will punish the people who are entrenched in their sin, ²⁸ 

those who think to themselves, ²⁹ 

‘The Lord neither rewards nor punishes.’ ³⁰ 

[5:18]  ¹ sn See the note at v. 8.

[5:18]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Woe to those who pull evil with the ropes of emptiness, and, as [with] ropes of a cart, sin.” Though several textual details are unclear, the basic idea is apparent. The sinners are so attached to their sinful ways (compared here to a heavy load) that they strain to drag them along behind them. If שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness”) is retained, it makes a further comment on their lifestyle, denouncing it as one that is devoid of what is right and destined to lead to nothing but destruction. Because “emptiness” does not form a very tight parallel with “cart” in the next line, some emend שָׁוְא to שֶׂה (she, “sheep”) and עֲגָלָה (’agalah, “cart”) to עֵגֶל (’egel, “calf”): “Those who pull evil along with a sheep halter are as good as dead who pull sin with a calf rope” (following the lead of the LXX and improving the internal parallelism of the verse). In this case, the verse pictures the sinners pulling sin along behind them as one pulls an animal with a halter. For a discussion of this view, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:163, n. 1. Nevertheless, this emendation is unnecessary. The above translation emphasizes the folly of the Israelites who hold on to their sin (and its punishment) even while they hope for divine intervention.

[5:19]  ³ tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his ‘work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.

[5:19]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[5:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”

[8:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “There is not a man who has mastery over the wind to restrain the wind.”

[8:8]  ⁷ tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “There is no discharge in war.”

[8:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “its owners.”

[5:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your covenant is with the stones of the field.” The line has been variously interpreted and translated. It is omitted in the LXX. It seems to mean there is a deep sympathy between man and nature. Some think it means that the boundaries will not be violated by enemies; Rashi thought it represented some species of beings, like genii of the field, and so read אֲדֹנֵי (’adone, “lords”) for אַבְנֵי (’avne, “stones”). Ball takes the word as בְּנֵי (bÿne, “sons”), as in “sons of the field,” to get the idea that the reference is to the beasts. E. Dhorme (Job, 71) rejects these ideas as too contrived; he says to have a pact with the stones of the field simply means the stones will not come and spoil the ground, making it less fertile.

[5:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the beasts of the field.”

[5:23]  ¹² tn This is the only occurrence of the Hophal of the verb שָׁלֵם (shalem, “to make or have peace” with someone). Compare Isa 11:6-9 and Ps 91:13. The verb form is the perfect; here it is the perfect consecutive following a noun clause (see GKC 494 §159.g).

[15:25]  ¹³ sn The symbol of the outstretched hand is the picture of attempting to strike someone, or shaking a fist at someone; it is a symbol of a challenge or threat (see Isa 5:25; 9:21; 10:4).

[15:25]  ¹⁴ tn The Hitpael of גָּבַר (gavar) means “to act with might” or “to behave like a hero.” The idea is that the wicked boldly vaunts himself before the Lord.

[15:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he runs against [or upon] him with the neck.” The RSV takes this to mean “with a stiff neck.” Several commentators, influenced by the LXX’s “insolently,” have attempted to harmonize with some idiom for neck (“outstretched neck,” for example). Others have made more extensive changes. Pope and Anderson follow Tur-Sinai in accepting “with full battle armor.” But the main idea seems to be that of a headlong assault on God.

[15:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “with the thickness of the bosses of his shield.” The bosses are the convex sides of the bucklers, turned against the foe. This is a defiant attack on God.

[15:27]  ¹⁷ sn This verse tells us that he is not in any condition to fight, because he is bloated and fat from luxurious living.

[15:27]  ¹⁸ tn D. W. Thomas defends a meaning “cover” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah). See “Translating Hebrew `asah,” BT 17 [1966]: 190-93.

[15:27]  ¹⁹ tn The term פִּימָה (pimah), a hapax legomenon, is explained by the Arabic fa’ima, “to be fat.” Pope renders this “blubber.” Cf. KJV “and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.”

[44:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “that went out of our mouth.” I.e., everything we said, promised, or vowed.

[44:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” The expressions have been combined to simplify and shorten the sentence. The same combination also occurs in vv. 18, 19.

[44:17]  ²² tn Heb “saw [or experienced] no disaster/trouble/harm.”

[8:12]  ²³ tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “And in that day” (so KJV, ASV).

[2:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will break”; NAB “I will destroy”; NCV “I will smash”; NLT “I will remove.”

[2:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “bow and sword and warfare.” The first two terms in the triad וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה (vÿqeshet vÿkherev umilkhamah, literally, “bow and sword and warfare”) are examples of synecdoche of specific (bow and sword) for general (weapons of war, so CEV). However, they might be examples of metonymy (bow and sword) of association (warfare).

[2:18]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and I will cause them to lie down in safety.” The causative nuance (“will make them”) is retained in several English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “who thicken on their sediment.” The imagery comes from wine making, where the wine, if allowed to remain on the sediment too long, will thicken into syrup. The image suggests that the people described here were complacent in their sinful behavior and interpreted the delay in judgment as divine apathy.

[1:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “who say in their hearts.”

[1:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “The Lord does not do good nor does he do evil.”