Isaiah 7:2-6

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  7:3 So the Lord told Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub ⁴  and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. ⁵  7:4 Tell him, ‘Make sure you stay calm! ⁶  Don’t be afraid! Don’t be intimidated ⁷  by these two stubs of smoking logs, ⁸  or by the raging anger of Rezin, Syria, and the son of Remaliah. 7:5 Syria has plotted with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah to bring about your demise. ⁹  7:6 They say, “Let’s attack Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it. ¹⁰  Then we’ll set up the son of Tabeel as its king.” ¹¹ 

Isaiah 51:12-13

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. ¹² 

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? ¹³ 

51:13 Why do you forget ¹⁴  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ¹⁵ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ¹⁶ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ¹⁸ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ¹⁹ 

but I blessed him ²⁰  and gave him numerous descendants. ²¹ 

Isaiah 16:5-7

16:5 Then a trustworthy king will be established;

he will rule in a reliable manner,

this one from David’s family. ²² 

He will be sure to make just decisions

and will be experienced in executing justice. ²³ 

16:6 We have heard about Moab’s pride,

their great arrogance,

their boasting, pride, and excess. ²⁴ 

But their boastful claims are empty! ²⁵ 

16:7 So Moab wails over its demise ²⁶  –

they all wail!

Completely devastated, they moan

about what has happened to the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth. ²⁷ 

[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.

[7:3]  ⁴ tn The name means “a remnant will return.” Perhaps in this context, where the Lord is trying to encourage Ahaz, the name suggests that only a few of the enemy invaders will return home; the rest will be defeated.

[7:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “the Washerman’s Field.”

[7:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “guard yourself and be quiet,” but the two verbs should be coordinated.

[7:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and let not your heart be weak”; ASV “neither let thy heart be faint.”

[7:4]  ⁸ sn The derogatory metaphor indicates that the power of Rezin and Pekah is ready to die out.

[7:5]  ⁹ tn This sentence opens with the conjunction יַעַן כִּי (ya’an ki, “because”). Consequently some take vv. 5-6 with what precedes, as another reason why Ahaz might be tempted to fear (see v. 4). However, it is more likely that vv. 5-6 give the basis for the Lord’s announcement in vv. 7-9. The conjunction יַעַן כִּי here introduces the basis for judgment (as in 3:16; 8:6; 29:13), which is then followed by the formal announcement of judgment.

[7:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and let us break it open for ourselves”; NASB “make for ourselves a breach in its walls”; NLT “fight our way into.”

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and we will make the son of Tabeel king in its midst.”

[51:12]  ¹² tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.

[51:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.

[51:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[51:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ¹⁷ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.

[51:2]  ¹⁸ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ²⁰ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

[16:5]  ²² tn Heb “and a throne will be established in faithfulness, and he will sit on it in reliability, in the tent of David.”

[16:5]  ²³ tn Heb “one who judges and seeks justice, and one experienced in fairness.” Many understand מְהִר (mÿhir) to mean “quick, prompt” (see BDB 555 s.v. מָהִיר), but HALOT 552 s.v. מָהִיר offers the meaning “skillful, experienced,” and translates the phrase in v. 5 “zealous for what is right.”

[16:6]  ²⁴ tn עֶבְרָה (’evrah) often means “anger, fury,” but here it appears to refer to boastful outbursts or excessive claims. See HALOT 782 s.v. עֶבְרָה.

[16:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “not so his boasting.”

[16:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “So Moab wails for Moab.”

[16:7]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text has, “for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth you [masculine plural] moan, surely destroyed.” The “raisin cakes” could have cultic significance (see Hos 3:1), but the next verse focuses on agricultural disaster, so here the raisin cakes are mentioned as an example of the fine foods that are no longer available (see 2 Sam 6:19; Song 2:5) because the vines have been destroyed by the invader (see v. 8). Some prefer to take אֲשִׁישֵׁי (’ashishe, “raisin cakes of”) as “men of” (see HALOT 95 s.v. *אָשִׁישׁ; cf. NIV). The verb form תֶהְגּוּ (tehgu, “you moan”) is probably the result of dittography (note that the preceding word ends in tav [ת]) and should be emended to הגו (a perfect, third plural form), “they moan.”