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 9:5

9:5 Indeed every boot that marches and shakes the earth ⁵ 

and every garment dragged through blood

is used as fuel for the fire.

Isaiah 11:10

Israel is Reclaimed and Reunited

11:10 At that time ⁶  a root from Jesse ⁷  will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance, ⁸  and his residence will be majestic.

Isaiah 11:16

11:16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria

for the remnant of his people, ⁹ 

just as there was for Israel,

when ¹⁰  they went up from the land of Egypt.

Isaiah 13:19

13:19 Babylon, the most admired ¹¹  of kingdoms,

the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride, ¹² 

will be destroyed by God

just as Sodom and Gomorrah were. ¹³ 

Isaiah 17:9

17:9 At that time ¹⁴  their fortified cities will be

like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, ¹⁵ 

which they abandoned because of the Israelites;

there will be desolation.

[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.

[9:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “Indeed every boot marching with shaking.” On the meaning of סְאוֹן (sÿ’on, “boot”) and the related denominative verb, both of which occur only here, see HALOT 738 s.v. סְאוֹן.

[11:10]  ⁹ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:10]  ¹⁰ sn See the note at v. 1.

[11:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “ a root from Jesse, which stands for a signal flag of the nations, of him nations will inquire” [or “seek”].

[11:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “and there will be a highway for the remnant of his people who remain, from Assyria.”

[11:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in the day” (so KJV).

[13:19]  ¹⁷ tn Or “most beautiful” (NCV, TEV).

[13:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the beauty of the pride of the Chaldeans.”

[13:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and Babylon…will be like the overthrow by God of Sodom and Gomorrah.” On מַהְפֵּכַת (mahpekhat, “overthrow”) see the note on the word “destruction” in 1:7.

[17:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[17:9]  ²² tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “like the abandonment of the wooded height and the top one.” The following relative clause appears to allude back to the Israelite conquest of the land, so it seems preferable to emend הַחֹרֶשׁ וְהָאָמִיר (hakhoresh vÿha’amir, “the wooded height and the top one”) to חֹרֵשֵׁי הָאֱמֹרִי (khoreshe ha’emori, “[like the abandonment] of the wooded heights of the Amorites”).