Isaiah 8:11-14

The Lord Encourages Isaiah

8:11 Indeed this is what the Lord told me. He took hold of me firmly and warned me not to act like these people: ¹ 

8:12 “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word. ² 

Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified.

8:13 You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. ³ 

He is the one you must respect;

he is the one you must fear. ⁴ 

8:14 He will become a sanctuary, ⁵ 

but a stone that makes a person trip,

and a rock that makes one stumble –

to the two houses of Israel. ⁶ 

He will become ⁷  a trap and a snare

to the residents of Jerusalem. ⁸ 

Isaiah 35:4

35:4 Tell those who panic, ⁹ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹¹ 

men of ¹²  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ¹³  the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 51:12-13

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. ¹⁵ 

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? ¹⁶ 

51:13 Why do you forget ¹⁷  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ¹⁸ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ¹⁹ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ²⁰ 

Matthew 10:28

10:28 Do ²¹  not be afraid of those who kill the body ²²  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ²³ 

Matthew 24:6

24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. ²⁴ 

[8:11]  ¹ tc Heb “with strength of hand and he warned me from walking in the way of these people, saying.” Some want to change the pointing of the suffix and thereby emend the Qal imperfect יִסְּרֵנִי (yissÿreni, “he was warning me”) to the more common Piel perfect יִסְּרַנִי (yissÿrani, “he warned me”). Others follow the lead of the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and read יְסִירֵנִי (yÿsireni, “he was turning me aside,” a Hiphil imperfect from סוּר, sur).

[8:12]  ² tn Heb “Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ with respect to all which these people say, ‘Conspiracy.’” The verb translated “do not say” is second masculine plural, indicating that this exhortation is directed to Isaiah and other followers of the Lord (see v. 16).

[8:13]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], him you must set apart.” The word order is emphatic, with the object being placed first.

[8:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “he is your [object of] fear, he is your [object of] terror.” The roots יָרֵא (yare’) and עָרַץ (’arats) are repeated from v. 12b.

[8:14]  ⁵ tn Because the metaphor of protection (“sanctuary”) does not fit the negative mood that follows in vv. 14b-15, some contend that מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “sanctuary”) is probably a corruption of an original מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), a word that appears in the next line (cf. NAB and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:355-56). If the MT reading is retained (as in the above translation), the fact that Yahweh is a sanctuary wraps up the point of v. 13 and stands in contrast to God’s treatment of those who rebel against him (the rest of v. 14).

[8:14]  ⁶ sn The two “houses” of Israel (= the patriarch Jacob) are the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.

[8:14]  ⁷ tn These words are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. וְהָיָה (vÿhayah, “and he will be”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.

[8:14]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[35:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ¹⁰ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[41:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ¹² tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[51:12]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ²⁰ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.

[10:28]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ²² sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ²³ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[24:6]  ²⁴ tn Grk “it is not yet the end.”