Isaiah 7:11

7:11 “Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.” ¹ 

Isaiah 27:5

27:5 unless they became my subjects ² 

and made peace with me;

let them make peace with me. ³ 

Isaiah 41:22

41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!

Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ⁴ 

so we may examine them ⁵  and see how they were fulfilled. ⁶ 

Or decree for us some future events!

Isaiah 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ⁷ 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ⁸ 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ⁹ 

[7:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Make it as deep as Sheol or make it high upwards.” These words suggest that Ahaz can feel free to go beyond the bounds of ordinary human experience.

[27:5]  ² tn Heb “or let him take hold of my refuge.” The subject of the third masculine singular verb form is uncertain. Apparently the symbolic “thorns and briers” are in view, though in v. 4b a feminine singular pronoun was used to refer to them.

[27:5]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has, “he makes peace with me, peace he makes with me.” Some contend that two alternative readings are preserved here and one should be deleted. The first has the object שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) preceding the verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “make”); the second reverses the order. Another option is to retain both statements, although repetitive, to emphasize the need to make peace with Yahweh.

[41:22]  ³ tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”

[41:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”

[41:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”

[50:1]  ⁴ sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ⁵ sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ⁶ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.