Isaiah 5:4

5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard

beyond what I have already done?

When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,

why did it produce sour ones instead?

Isaiah 6:13

6:13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, ¹  like one of the large sacred trees ²  or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. ³  That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” ⁴ 

Isaiah 9:12

9:12 Syria from the east,

and the Philistines from the west,

they gobbled up Israelite territory. ⁵ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

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. ⁷ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁸ 

Isaiah 14:1

14:1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; ⁹  he will again choose Israel as his special people ¹⁰  and restore ¹¹  them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family ¹²  of Jacob.

Isaiah 21:16

21:16 For this is what the sovereign master ¹³  has told me: “Within exactly one year ¹⁴  all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end.

Isaiah 23:12

23:12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed ¹⁵  virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.” ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 30:20

30:20 The sovereign master ¹⁷  will give you distress to eat

and suffering to drink; ¹⁸ 

but your teachers will no longer be hidden;

your eyes will see them. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 38:11

38:11 “I thought,

‘I will no longer see the Lord ²⁰  in the land of the living,

I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world. ²¹ 

Isaiah 47:8

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ²² 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ²³ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ²⁴ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ²⁵ 

Isaiah 47:10

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; ²⁶ 

you thought, ²⁷  ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed ²⁸  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ²⁹ 

Isaiah 60:18

60:18 Sounds of violence ³⁰  will no longer be heard in your land,

or the sounds of ³¹  destruction and devastation within your borders.

You will name your walls, ‘Deliverance,’

and your gates, ‘Praise.’

Isaiah 60:20

60:20 Your sun will no longer set;

your moon will not disappear; ³² 

the Lord will be your permanent source of light;

your time ³³  of sorrow will be over.

[6:13]  ¹ tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”

[6:13]  ² tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).

[6:13]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.

[6:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.

[9:12]  ¹ tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”

[9:12]  ² tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)

[10:4]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.”

[14:1]  ¹ tn The sentence begins with כִּי (ki), which is understood as asseverative (“certainly”) in the translation. Another option is to translate, “For the Lord will have compassion.” In this case one of the reasons for Babylon’s coming demise (13:22b) is the Lord’s desire to restore his people.

[14:1]  ² tn The words “as his special people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:1]  ³ tn Or “settle” (NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[14:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[21:16]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[21:16]  ² tn Heb “in still a year, like the years of a hired worker.” See the note at 16:14.

[23:12]  ¹ tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.

[23:12]  ² tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1.

[30:20]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[30:20]  ² tn Heb “and the Master will give to you bread – distress, and water – oppression.”

[30:20]  ³ tn Heb “but your teachers will no longer be hidden, your eyes will be seeing your teachers.” The translation assumes that the form מוֹרֶיךָ (morekha) is a plural participle, referring to spiritual leaders such as prophets and priests. Another possibility is that the form is actually singular (see GKC 273-74 §93.ss) or a plural of respect, referring to God as the master teacher. See HALOT 560-61 s.v. III מוֹרֶה. For discussion of the views, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:560.

[38:11]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text has יָהּ יָהּ (yah yah, the abbreviated form of יְהוָה [yÿhvah] repeated), but this is probably a corruption of יְהוָה.

[38:11]  ² tc The Hebrew text has חָדֶל (khadel), which appears to be derived from a verbal root meaning “to cease, refrain.” But the form has probably suffered an error of transmission; the original form (attested in a few medieval Hebrew mss) was likely חֶלֶד (kheled, “world”).

[47:8]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ² tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ³ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[47:10]  ¹ tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”

[47:10]  ² tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”

[47:10]  ³ tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[47:10]  ⁴ tn See the note at v. 8.

[60:18]  ¹ tn The words “sounds of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[60:18]  ² tn The words “sounds of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[60:20]  ¹ sn In this verse “sun” and “moon” refer to the Lord’s light, which will replace the sun and moon (see v. 19). Light here symbolizes the restoration of divine blessing and prosperity in conjunction with the Lord’s presence. See 30:26.

[60:20]  ² tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).