Isaiah 5:24-25

5:24 Therefore, as flaming fire ¹  devours straw,

and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,

so their root will rot,

and their flower will blow away like dust. ² 

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

they have spurned the commands ³  of the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

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

he lifts ⁶  his hand and strikes them.

The mountains shake,

and corpses lie like manure ⁷  in the middle of the streets.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁸ 

Isaiah 8:7

8:7 So look, the sovereign master ⁹  is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River ¹⁰  – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 9:17

9:17 So the sovereign master was not pleased ¹²  with their young men,

he took no pity ¹³  on their orphans and widows;

for the whole nation was godless ¹⁴  and did wicked things, ¹⁵ 

every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ¹⁶ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 10:24

10:24 So ¹⁸  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 20:2

20:2 At that time the Lord announced through ²⁰  Isaiah son of Amoz: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments ²¹  and barefoot.

Isaiah 27:9

27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, ²² 

and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: ²³ 

They will make all the stones of the altars ²⁴ 

like crushed limestone,

and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. ²⁵ 

Isaiah 27:11

27:11 When its branches get brittle, ²⁶  they break;

women come and use them for kindling. ²⁷ 

For these people lack understanding, ²⁸ 

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

the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

Isaiah 29:8

29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,

only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ²⁹ 

It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,

only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ³⁰ 

So it will be for the horde from all the nations

that fight against Mount Zion.

Isaiah 29:22

29:22 So this is what the Lord, the one who delivered Abraham, says to the family of Jacob: ³¹ 

“Jacob will no longer be ashamed;

their faces will no longer show their embarrassment. ³² 

Isaiah 36:6

36:6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him!

Isaiah 37:33

37:33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

‘He will not enter this city,

nor will he shoot an arrow here. ³³ 

He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, ³⁴ 

nor will he build siege works against it.

Isaiah 51:6

51:6 Look up at the sky!

Look at the earth below!

For the sky will dissipate ³⁵  like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like clothes;

its residents will die like gnats.

But the deliverance I give ³⁶  is permanent;

the vindication I provide ³⁷  will not disappear. ³⁸ 

Isaiah 53:12

53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, ³⁹ 

he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, ⁴⁰ 

because he willingly submitted ⁴¹  to death

and was numbered with the rebels,

when he lifted up the sin of many

and intervened ⁴²  on behalf of the rebels.”

Isaiah 54:9

54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, ⁴³ 

when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood ⁴⁴  would never again cover the earth.

In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.

Isaiah 55:11

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ⁴⁵ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ⁴⁶ 

Isaiah 65:8

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When ⁴⁷  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ⁴⁸ 

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone. ⁴⁹ 

Isaiah 65:13

65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!

Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!

Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!

[5:24]  ¹ tn Heb “a tongue of fire” (so NASB), referring to a tongue-shaped flame.

[5:24]  ² sn They are compared to a flowering plant that withers quickly in a hot, arid climate.

[5:24]  ³ tn Heb “the word.”

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

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

[5:25]  ⁶ tn Or “extends”; KJV, ASV “he hath stretched forth.”

[5:25]  ⁷ tn Or “garbage” (NCV, CEV, NLT); NAB, NASB, NIV “refuse.”

[5:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[8:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[8:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the mighty and abundant waters of the river.” The referent of “the river” here, the Euphrates River, has been specified in the translation for clarity. As the immediately following words indicate, these waters symbolize the Assyrian king and his armies which will, as it were, inundate the land.

[8:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it will go up over all its stream beds and go over all its banks.”

[9:17]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”

[9:17]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.

[9:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[10:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

[10:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[20:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”

[20:2]  ²² tn The word used here (עָרוֹם, ’arom) sometimes means “naked,” but here it appears to mean simply “lightly dressed,” i.e., stripped to one’s undergarments. See HALOT 883 s.v. עָרוֹם. The term also occurs in vv. 3, 4.

[27:9]  ²⁵ tn Or “be atoned for” (NIV); cf. NRSV “be expiated.”

[27:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and this [is] all the fruit of removing his sin.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear, though “removing his sin” certainly parallels “Jacob’s sin will be removed” in the preceding line. If original, “all the fruit” may refer to the result of the decision to remove sin, but the phrase may be a corruption of לְכַפֵּר (lekhaper, “to atone for”), which in turn might be a gloss on הָסִר (hasir, “removing”).

[27:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “when he makes the stones of an altar.” The singular “altar” is collective here; pagan altars are in view, as the last line of the verse indicates. See also 17:8.

[27:9]  ²⁸ sn As interpreted and translated above, this verse says that Israel must totally repudiate its pagan religious practices in order to experience God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another option is to understand “in this way” and “this” in v. 9a as referring back to the judgment described in v. 8. In this case כָּפַר (kafar, “atone for”) is used in a sarcastic sense; Jacob’s sin is “atoned for” and removed through severe judgment. Following this line of interpretation, one might paraphrase the verse as follows: “So in this way (through judgment) Jacob’s sin will be “atoned for,” and this is the way his sin will be removed, when he (i.e., God) makes all the altar stones like crushed limestone….” This interpretation is more consistent with the tone of judgment in vv. 8 and 10-11.

[27:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[27:11]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”

[29:8]  ³³ tn Or “that he [or “his appetite”] is unsatisfied.”

[29:8]  ³⁴ tn Or “that he is faint and that he [or “his appetite”] longs [for water].”

[29:22]  ³⁷ tn Heb “So this is what the Lord says to the house of Jacob, the one who ransomed Abraham.” The relative pronoun must refer back to “the Lord,” not to the immediately preceding “Jacob.” It is uncertain to what event in Abraham’s experience this refers. Perhaps the name “Abraham” stands here by metonymy for his descendants through Jacob. If so, the Exodus is in view.

[29:22]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and his face will no longer be pale.”

[37:33]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.

[37:33]  ⁴² tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[51:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.

[51:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”

[51:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”

[51:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”

[53:12]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ sn The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.

[53:12]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “because he laid bare his life”; traditionally, ASV “because he (+ hath KJV) poured out his soul (life NIV) unto death.”

[53:12]  ⁵² 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.

[54:9]  ⁵³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and all the ancient versions except LXX.

[54:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:11]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

[55:11]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”

[65:8]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8]  ⁶² tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8]  ⁶³ tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”