Isaiah 5:2

5:2 He built a hedge around it, ¹  removed its stones,

and planted a vine.

He built a tower in the middle of it,

and constructed a winepress.

He waited for it to produce edible grapes,

but it produced sour ones instead. ² 

Isaiah 5:25

5:25 So the Lord is furious ³  with his people;

he lifts ⁴  his hand and strikes them.

The mountains shake,

and corpses lie like manure ⁵  in the middle of the streets.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

Isaiah 9:17

9:17 So the sovereign master was not pleased ⁷  with their young men,

he took no pity ⁸  on their orphans and widows;

for the whole nation was godless ⁹  and did wicked things, ¹⁰ 

every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ¹¹ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ¹² 

Isaiah 10:13

10:13 For he says:

“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,

by my strategy that I devised.

I invaded the territory of nations, ¹³ 

and looted their storehouses.

Like a mighty conqueror, ¹⁴  I brought down rulers. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 22:25

22:25 “At that time,” ¹⁶  says the Lord who commands armies, “the peg fastened into a solid place will come loose. It will be cut off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off.” ¹⁷  Indeed, ¹⁸  the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 27:11

27:11 When its branches get brittle, ¹⁹  they break;

women come and use them for kindling. ²⁰ 

For these people lack understanding, ²¹ 

therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;

the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

Isaiah 27:13

27:13 At that time ²²  a large ²³  trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost ²⁴  in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in ²⁵  the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 30:26

30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare

and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,

like the light of seven days, ²⁷ 

when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones ²⁸ 

and heals their severe wound. ²⁹ 

Isaiah 36:12

36:12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. ³⁰  His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!” ³¹ 

Isaiah 41:2

41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? ³² 

Who ³³  officially commissions him for service? ³⁴ 

He hands nations over to him, ³⁵ 

and enables him to subdue ³⁶  kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

like windblown straw with his bow. ³⁷ 

Isaiah 49:21

49:21 Then you will think to yourself, ³⁸ 

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced. ³⁹ 

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’”

Isaiah 51:13

51:13 Why do you forget ⁴⁰  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ⁴¹ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ⁴² 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ⁴³ 

Isaiah 53:12

53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, ⁴⁴ 

he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, ⁴⁵ 

because he willingly submitted ⁴⁶  to death

and was numbered with the rebels,

when he lifted up the sin of many

and intervened ⁴⁷  on behalf of the rebels.”

Isaiah 57:13

57:13 When you cry out for help, let your idols ⁴⁸  help you!

The wind blows them all away, ⁴⁹ 

a breeze carries them away. ⁵⁰ 

But the one who looks to me for help ⁵¹  will inherit the land

and will have access to ⁵²  my holy mountain.”

Isaiah 58:2

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ⁵³ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

Isaiah 60:9

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ⁵⁴  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ⁵⁵  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ⁵⁶ 

the Holy One of Israel, ⁵⁷  for he has bestowed honor on you.

[5:2]  ¹ tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.

[5:2]  ² tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).

[5:25]  ³ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord rages.”

[5:25]  ⁴ tn Or “extends”; KJV, ASV “he hath stretched forth.”

[5:25]  ⁵ tn Or “garbage” (NCV, CEV, NLT); NAB, NASB, NIV “refuse.”

[5:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[9:17]  ⁵ tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has לא יחמול (“he did not spare”) which is an obvious attempt to tighten the parallelism (note “he took no pity” in the next line). Instead of taking שָׂמַח (samakh) in one of its well attested senses (“rejoice over, be pleased with”), some propose, with support from Arabic, a rare homonymic root meaning “be merciful.”

[9:17]  ⁶ tn The translation understands the prefixed verbs יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) and יְרַחֵם (yÿrakhem) as preterites without vav (ו) consecutive. (See v. 11 and the note on “he stirred up.”)

[9:17]  ⁷ tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”

[9:17]  ⁸ tn מֵרַע (mera’) is a Hiphil participle from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil”). The intransitive Hiphil has an exhibitive force here, indicating that they exhibited outwardly the evidence of an inward condition by committing evil deeds.

[9:17]  ⁹ tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.

[9:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[10:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”

[10:13]  ⁸ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).

[10:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.

[22:25]  ⁹ tn Or “In that day” (KJV).

[22:25]  ¹⁰ sn Eliakim’s authority, though seemingly secure, will eventually be removed, and with it his family’s prominence.

[22:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[27:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[27:11]  ¹² tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.

[27:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”

[27:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it will be in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[27:13]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”

[27:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the ones perishing.”

[27:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the ones driven into.”

[27:13]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[30:26]  ¹⁵ sn Light here symbolizes restoration of divine blessing and prosperity. The number “seven” is used symbolically to indicate intensity. The exact meaning of the phrase “the light of seven days” is uncertain; it probably means “seven times brighter” (see the parallel line).

[30:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB).

[30:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the injury of his wound.” The joining of synonyms emphasizes the severity of the wound. Another option is to translate, “the wound of his blow.” In this case the pronominal suffix might refer to the Lord, not the people, yielding the translation, “the wound which he inflicted.”

[36:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.

[36:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”

[41:2]  ¹⁹ sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).

[41:2]  ²⁰ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.

[41:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”

[41:2]  ²² tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”

[41:2]  ²³ tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).

[41:2]  ²⁴ sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.

[49:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

[49:21]  ²² tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

[51:13]  ²³ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ²⁴ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[51:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ²⁶ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.

[53:12]  ²⁵ tn Scholars have debated the precise meaning of the term רַבִּים (rabbim) that occurs five times in this passage (Isa 52:14, 15; 53:11, 12 [2x]). Its two broad categories of translation are “much”/“many” and “great” (HALOT 1171-72 s.v. I רַב). Unlike other Hebrew terms for might or strength, this term is linked with numbers or abundance. In all sixteen uses outside of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (articular and plural) it signifies an inclusive meaning: “the majority” or “the multitude” (J. Jeremias, TDNT 6:536-37). This term occurs in parallelism with עֲצוּמִים (’atsumim), which normally signifies “numerous” or “large” or “powerful” (through large numbers). Like רַבִּים (rabbim), it refers to greatness in numbers (cf. Deut 4:38; 7:1; 9:1; 11:34). It emphasizes the multitudes with whom the Servant will share the spoil of his victory. As J. Olley wrote: “Yahweh has won the victory and vindicates his Servant, giving to him many subservient people, together with their spoils. These numerous peoples in turn receive blessing, sharing in the “peace” resulting from Yahweh’s victory and the Servant’s suffering” (John W. Olley, “‘The Many’: How Is Isa 53,12a to Be Understood,” Bib 68 [1987]: 330-56).

[53:12]  ²⁶ sn The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.

[53:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “because he laid bare his life”; traditionally, ASV “because he (+ hath KJV) poured out his soul (life NIV) unto death.”

[53:12]  ²⁸ tn The Hiphil of פָּגַע (paga’) can mean “cause to attack” (v. 6), “urge, plead verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25), or “intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16). Perhaps the third nuance fits best here, for military imagery is employed in the first two lines of the verse.

[57:13]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text has קִבּוּצַיִךְ (qibbutsayikh, “your gatherings”), an otherwise unattested noun from the verbal root קָבַץ (qavats, “gather”). Perhaps this alludes to their religious assemblies and by metonymy to their rituals. Since idolatry is a prominent theme in the context, some understand this as a reference to a collection of idols. The second half of the verse also favors this view.

[57:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “all of them a wind lifts up.”

[57:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a breath takes [them] away.”

[57:13]  ³⁰ tn Or “seeks refuge in me.” “Seeking refuge” is a metonymy for “being loyal to.”

[57:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “possess, own.” The point seems to be that he will have free access to God’s presence, as if God’s temple mount were his personal possession.

[58:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[60:9]  ³¹ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ³² tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ³³ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ³⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.