Isaiah 7:22

7:22 From the abundance of milk they produce, ¹  he will have sour milk for his meals. Indeed, everyone left in the heart of the land will eat sour milk and honey.

Isaiah 7:15

7:15 He will eat sour milk ²  and honey, which will help him know how ³  to reject evil and choose what is right.

Isaiah 11:7

11:7 A cow and a bear will graze together,

their young will lie down together. ⁴ 

A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.

Isaiah 44:16

44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –

over that half he cooks ⁵  meat;

he roasts a meal and fills himself.

Yes, he warms himself and says,

‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’

Isaiah 65:22

65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, ⁶ 

or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, ⁷ 

for my people will live as long as trees, ⁸ 

and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. ⁹ 

Isaiah 65:25

65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; ¹⁰ 

a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, ¹¹ 

and a snake’s food will be dirt. ¹² 

They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain,” ¹³  says the Lord.

[7:22]  ¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated, see note on 2:2.

[7:15]  ² tn Or, perhaps “cream,” frequently, “curds” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); KJV, ASV “butter”; CEV “yogurt.”

[7:15]  ³ tn Heb “for his knowing.” Traditionally the preposition has been translated in a temporal sense, “when he knows.” However, though the preposition לְ (lamed) can sometimes have a temporal force, it never carries such a nuance in any of the 40 other passages where it is used with the infinitive construct of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”). Most often the construction indicates purpose/result. This sense is preferable here. The following context indicates that sour milk and honey will epitomize the devastation that God’s judgment will bring upon the land. Cultivated crops will be gone and the people will be forced to live off the milk produced by their goats and the honey they find in the thickets. As the child is forced to eat a steady diet of this sour milk and honey, he will be reminded of the consequences of sin and motivated to make correct moral decisions in order to avoid further outbreaks of divine discipline.

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “and a cow and a bear will graze – together – they will lie down, their young.” This is a case of pivot pattern; יַחְדָּו (yakhddav, “together”) goes with both the preceding and following statements.

[44:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”

[65:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”

[65:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”

[65:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”

[65:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”

[65:25]  ⁶ sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.

[65:25]  ⁷ sn These words also appear in 11:7.

[65:25]  ⁸ sn Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14, the primary allusion is to 11:8, where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)

[65:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.