Isaiah 7:2

7:2 It was reported to the family ¹  of David, “Syria has allied with ²  Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. ³ 

Isaiah 9:20

9:20 They devoured ⁴  on the right, but were still hungry,

they ate on the left, but were not satisfied.

People even ate ⁵  the flesh of their own arm! ⁶ 

Isaiah 41:22

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

Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ⁷ 

so we may examine them ⁸  and see how they were fulfilled. ⁹ 

Or decree for us some future events!

Isaiah 42:24

42:24 Who handed Jacob over to the robber?

Who handed Israel over to the looters? ¹⁰ 

Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?

They refused to follow his commands;

they disobeyed his law. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 59:10

59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,

we grope like those who cannot see; ¹² 

we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.

Though others are strong, we are like dead men. ¹³ 

[7:2]  ¹ tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.

[7:2]  ² tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”

[7:2]  ³ tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.

[9:20]  ⁴ tn Or “cut.” The verb גָּזַר (gazar) means “to cut.” If it is understood here, then one might paraphrase, “They slice off meat on the right.” However, HALOT 187 s.v. I גזר, proposes here a rare homonym meaning “to devour.”

[9:20]  ⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ⁶ tn Some suggest that זְרֹעוֹ (zÿro’o, “his arm”) be repointed זַרְעוֹ (zar’o, “his offspring”). In either case, the metaphor is that of a desperately hungry man who resorts to an almost unthinkable act to satisfy his appetite. He eats everything he can find to his right, but still being unsatisfied, then turns to his left and eats everything he can find there. Still being desperate for food, he then resorts to eating his own flesh (or offspring, as this phrase is metaphorically understood by some English versions, e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The reality behind the metaphor is the political turmoil of the period, as the next verse explains. There was civil strife within the northern kingdom; even the descendants of Joseph were at each other’s throats. Then the northern kingdom turned on their southern brother, Judah.

[41:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”

[41:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”

[41:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”

[42:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Who gave to the robber Jacob, and Israel to the looters?” In the first line the consonantal text (Kethib) has מְשׁוֹסֶה (mÿshoseh), a Polel participle from שָׁסָה (shasah, “plunder”). The marginal reading (Qere) is מְשִׁיסָּה (mÿshissah), a noun meaning “plunder.” In this case one could translate “Who handed Jacob over as plunder?”

[42:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they were not willing in his ways to walk, and they did not listen to his law.”

[59:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”

[59:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”