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 11:9

11:9 They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain. ⁵ 

For there will be universal submission to the Lord’s sovereignty,

just as the waters completely cover the sea. ⁶ 

Isaiah 27:13

27:13 At that time ⁷  a large ⁸  trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost ⁹  in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in ¹⁰  the land of Egypt. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 35:8

35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –

it will be called the Way of Holiness. ¹² 

The unclean will not travel on it;

it is reserved for those authorized to use it ¹³  –

fools ¹⁴  will not stray into it.

Isaiah 52:10

52:10 The Lord reveals ¹⁵  his royal power ¹⁶ 

in the sight of all the nations;

the entire ¹⁷  earth sees

our God deliver. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 57:13

57:13 When you cry out for help, let your idols ¹⁹  help you!

The wind blows them all away, ²⁰ 

a breeze carries them away. ²¹ 

But the one who looks to me for help ²²  will inherit the land

and will have access to ²³  my holy mountain.”

Isaiah 63:11

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ²⁴ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ²⁵  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ²⁶ 

Isaiah 63:15

63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,

from your holy, majestic palace!

Where are your zeal ²⁷  and power?

Do not hold back your tender compassion! ²⁸ 

Isaiah 64:11

64:11 Our holy temple, our pride and joy, ²⁹ 

the place where our ancestors praised you,

has been burned with fire;

all our prized possessions have been destroyed. ³⁰ 

Isaiah 65:11

65:11 But as for you who abandon the Lord

and forget about worshiping at ³¹  my holy mountain,

who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’ ³² 

and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’ ³³  –

[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.

[11:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” In the most basic sense the Lord’s “holy mountain” is the mountain from which he rules over his kingdom (see Ezek 28:14, 16). More specifically it probably refers to Mount Zion/Jerusalem or to the entire land of Israel (see Pss 2:6; 15:1; 43:3; Isa 56:7; 57:13; Ezek 20:40; Ob 16; Zeph 3:11). If the Lord’s universal kingdom is in view in this context (see the note on “earth” at v. 4), then the phrase would probably be metonymic here, standing for God’s worldwide dominion (see the next line).

[11:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “for the earth will be full of knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The translation assumes that a universal kingdom is depicted here, but אֶרֶץ (’erets) could be translated “land” (see the note at v. 4). “Knowledge of the Lord” refers here to a recognition of the Lord’s sovereignty which results in a willingness to submit to his authority. See the note at v. 2.

[27:13]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “great” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “loud.”

[27:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “the ones perishing.”

[27:13]  ¹² tn Or “the ones driven into.”

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

[35:8]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.

[35:8]  ¹⁴ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.

[35:8]  ¹⁵ tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.

[52:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”

[52:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.

[52:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.

[52:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.

[57:13]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “all of them a wind lifts up.”

[57:13]  ²³ tn Heb “a breath takes [them] away.”

[57:13]  ²⁴ tn Or “seeks refuge in me.” “Seeking refuge” is a metonymy for “being loyal to.”

[57:13]  ²⁵ 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.

[63:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.

[63:11]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.

[63:11]  ²⁷ sn See the note at v. 10.

[63:15]  ²⁹ tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.

[63:15]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.

[64:11]  ³³ tn Heb “our source of pride.”

[64:11]  ³⁴ tn Or “all that we valued has become a ruin.”

[65:11]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text has simply, “forget.” The words “about worshiping at” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[65:11]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew has לַגַּד (laggad, “for Gad”), the name of a pagan deity. See HALOT 176 s.v. II גַּד 2.

[65:11]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew has לַמְנִי (lamni, “for Meni”), the name of a pagan deity. See HALOT 602 s.v. מְגִי.