Isaiah 64:10

64:10 Your chosen ¹  cities have become a desert;

Zion has become a desert,

Jerusalem ²  is a desolate ruin.

Isaiah 1:7

1:7 Your land is devastated,

your cities burned with fire.

Right before your eyes your crops

are being destroyed by foreign invaders. ³ 

They leave behind devastation and destruction. ⁴ 

Isaiah 6:11

6:11 I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said,

“Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated,

and houses are uninhabited,

and the land is ruined and devastated,

Isaiah 17:9

17:9 At that time ⁵  their fortified cities will be

like the abandoned summits of the Amorites, ⁶ 

which they abandoned because of the Israelites;

there will be desolation.

Isaiah 62:4

62:4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”

and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”

Indeed, ⁷  you will be called “My Delight is in Her,” ⁸ 

and your land “Married.” ⁹ 

For the Lord will take delight in you,

and your land will be married to him. ¹⁰ 

[64:10]  ¹ tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”

[64:10]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “As for your land, before you foreigners are devouring it.”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and [there is] devastation like an overthrow by foreigners.” The comparative preposition כְּ (kÿ, “like, as”) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the land has all the earmarks of a destructive foreign invasion because that is what has indeed happened. One could paraphrase, “it is desolate as it can only be when foreigners destroy.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x. Many also prefer to emend “foreigners” here to “Sodom,” though there is no external attestation for such a reading in the mss or ancient versions. Such an emendation finds support from the following context (vv. 9-10) and usage of the preceding noun מַהְפֵּכָה (mahpekhah, “overthrow”). In its five other uses, this noun is associated with the destruction of Sodom. If one accepts the emendation, then one might translate, “the devastation resembles the destruction of Sodom.”

[17:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[17:9]  ⁶ 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”).

[62:4]  ⁷ tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”

[62:4]  ⁸ tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi-vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

[62:4]  ⁹ tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bÿ’ulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).

[62:4]  ¹⁰ tn That is, the land will be restored to the Lord’s favor and once again enjoy his blessing and protection. To indicate the land’s relationship to the Lord, the words “to him” have been supplied at the end of the clause.