Isaiah 5:19

5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, ¹ 

so we can see;

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel ²  take shape ³  and come to pass,

then we will know it!”

Isaiah 5:24

5:24 Therefore, as flaming fire ⁴  devours straw,

and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,

so their root will rot,

and their flower will blow away like dust. ⁵ 

For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies,

they have spurned the commands ⁶  of the Holy One of Israel. ⁷ 

Isaiah 12:6

12:6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,

for the Holy One of Israel ⁸  acts mightily ⁹  among you!”

Isaiah 29:19

29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;

the poor among humankind will take delight ¹⁰  in the Holy One of Israel. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 30:11-12

30:11 Turn aside from the way,

stray off the path. ¹² 

Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.” ¹³ 

30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“You have rejected this message; ¹⁴ 

you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, ¹⁵ 

and rely on that kind of behavior. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 30:15

30:15 For this is what the master, the Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:

“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; ¹⁷ 

if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, ¹⁸ 

but you are unwilling.

Isaiah 37:23

37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?

At whom have you shouted

and looked so arrogantly? ¹⁹ 

At the Holy One of Israel! ²⁰ 

Isaiah 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ²¹ 

men of ²²  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ²³  the Holy One of Israel. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 41:16

41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;

the wind will scatter them.

You will rejoice in the Lord;

you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 41:20

41:20 I will do this so ²⁵  people ²⁶  will observe and recognize,

so they will pay attention and understand

that the Lord’s power ²⁷  has accomplished this,

and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” ²⁸ 

Psalms 89:18

89:18 For our shield ²⁹  belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 50:29

50:29 “Call for archers ³¹  to come against Babylon!

Summon against her all who draw the bow!

Set up camp all around the city!

Do not allow anyone to escape!

Pay her back for what she has done.

Do to her what she has done to others.

For she has proudly defied me, ³² 

the Holy One of Israel. ³³ 

Jeremiah 51:5

51:5 “For Israel and Judah will not be forsaken ³⁴ 

by their God, the Lord who rules over all. ³⁵ 

For the land of Babylonia is ³⁶  full of guilt

against the Holy One of Israel. ³⁷ 

[5:19]  ¹ 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]  ² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[5:19]  ³ tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”

[5:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “a tongue of fire” (so NASB), referring to a tongue-shaped flame.

[5:24]  ⁵ sn They are compared to a flowering plant that withers quickly in a hot, arid climate.

[5:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “the word.”

[5:24]  ⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[12:6]  ⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[12:6]  ⁹ tn Or “is great” (TEV). However, the context emphasizes his mighty acts of deliverance (cf. NCV), not some general or vague character quality.

[29:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “will rejoice” (NIV, NCV, NLT).

[29:19]  ¹¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[30:11]  ¹² sn The imagery refers to the way or path of truth, as revealed by God to the prophet.

[30:11]  ¹³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[30:12]  ¹⁴ tn The sentence actually begins with the word “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[30:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you trust in oppression and cunning.”

[30:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and you lean on it”; NAB “and depend on it.”

[30:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in returning and in quietness you will be delivered.” Many English versions render the last phrase “shall be saved” or something similar (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[30:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in quietness and in trust is your strength” (NASB and NRSV both similar).

[37:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”

[37:23]  ²⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[41:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ²² tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ²³ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ²⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[41:20]  ²⁵ tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”

[41:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”

[41:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[41:20]  ²⁸ tn Or “created it” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “has made it happen.”

[89:18]  ²⁹ tn The phrase “our shield” refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God’s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with “our king" here and with “your anointed one” in Ps 84:9.

[89:18]  ³⁰ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

[50:29]  ³¹ tn For this word see BDB 914 s.v. III רַב and compare usage in Prov 26:10 and Job 16:12 and compare the usage of the verb in Gen 49:23. Based on this evidence, it is not necessary to emend the form to רֹבִים (rovim) as many commentators contend.

[50:29]  ³² tn Heb “for she has acted insolently against the Lord.” Once again there is the problem of the Lord speaking about himself in the third person (or the prophet dropping his identification with the Lord). As in several other places the present translation, along with several other modern English versions (TEV, CEV, NIrV), has substituted the first person to maintain consistency with the context.

[50:29]  ³³ sn The Holy One of Israel is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah. It is applied to the Lord only here and in 51:5 in the book of Jeremiah. It is a figure where an attribute of a person is put as a title of a person (compare “your majesty” for a king). It pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.

[51:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “widowed” (cf. BDB 48 s.v. אַלְמָן, an adjective occurring only here but related to the common word for “widow”). It is commonly translated as has been done here.

[51:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of this rendering see the study note on 2:19.

[51:5]  ³⁶ tn Or “all, though their land was…” The majority of the modern English versions understand the land here to refer to the land of Israel and Judah (the text reads “their land” and Israel and Judah are the nearest antecedents). In this case the particle כִּי (ki) is concessive (cf. BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c[b]). Many of the modern commentaries understand the referent to be the land of the Chaldeans/Babylonians. However, most of them feel that the line is connected as a causal statement to 51:2-4 and see the line as either textually or logically out of place. However, it need not be viewed as logically out of place. It is parallel to the preceding and gives a second reason why they are to be destroyed. It also forms an excellent transition to the next lines where the exiles and other foreigners are urged to flee and not get caught up in the destruction which is coming “because of her sin.” It might be helpful to note that both the adjective “widowed” and the suffix on “their God” are masculine singular, looking at Israel and Judah as one entity. The “their” then goes back not to Israel and Judah of the preceding lines but to the “them” in v. 4. This makes for a better connection with the following and understands the particle כִּי in its dominant usage not an extremely rare one (see the comment in BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c[b]). This interpretation is also reflected in RSV.

[51:5]  ³⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 50:29.