Isaiah 8:15

8:15 Many will stumble over the stone and the rock, ¹ 

and will fall and be seriously injured,

and will be ensnared and captured.”

Isaiah 23:3

23:3 the deep waters! ² 

Grain from the Shihor region, ³ 

crops grown near the Nile ⁴  she receives; ⁵ 

she is the trade center ⁶  of the nations.

Isaiah 52:14

52:14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) ⁷ 

he was so disfigured ⁸  he no longer looked like a man; ⁹ 

Isaiah 5:9

5:9 The Lord who commands armies told me this: ¹⁰ 

“Many houses will certainly become desolate,

large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 17:12-13

17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, ¹² 

those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. ¹³ 

The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, ¹⁴ 

those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. ¹⁵ 

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ¹⁶ 

when he shouts at ¹⁷  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ¹⁸  before a strong gale.

Isaiah 52:15

52:15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human ¹⁹  –

so now ²⁰  he will startle ²¹  many nations.

Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, ²² 

for they will witness something unannounced to them,

and they will understand something they had not heard about.

Isaiah 54:1

Zion Will Be Secure

54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!

Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one are more numerous

than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 2:3-4

2:3 many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple of the God of Jacob,

so ²³  he can teach us his requirements, ²⁴ 

and ²⁵  we can follow his standards.” ²⁶ 

For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; ²⁷ 

the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. ²⁸ 

2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;

he will settle cases for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ²⁹ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ³⁰ 

Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Isaiah 53:12

53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, ³¹ 

he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, ³² 

because he willingly submitted ³³  to death

and was numbered with the rebels,

when he lifted up the sin of many

and intervened ³⁴  on behalf of the rebels.”

[8:15]  ¹ tn Heb “over them” (so NASB); NCV “over this rock.”

[23:3]  ² tc The Hebrew text (23:2b-3a) reads literally, “merchant of Sidon, the one who crosses the sea, they filled you, and on the deep waters.” Instead of מִלְאוּךְ (mil’ukh, “they filled you”) the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads מלאכיך (“your messengers”). The translation assumes an emendation of מִלְאוּךְ to מַלְאָכָו (mal’akhav, “his messengers”), taking the vav (ו) on וּבְמַיִם (uvÿmayim) as improperly placed; instead it should be the final letter of the preceding word.

[23:3]  ³ tn Heb “seed of Shihor.” “Shihor” probably refers to the east branch of the Nile. See Jer 2:18 and BDB 1009 s.v. שִׁיחוֹר.

[23:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “the harvest of the Nile.”

[23:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “[is] her revenue.”

[23:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “merchandise”; KJV, ASV “a mart of nations”; NLT “the merchandise mart of the world.”

[52:14]  ³ tn Some witnesses read “him,” which is more consistent with the context, where the servant is spoken about, not addressed. However, it is possible that the Lord briefly addresses the servant here. The present translation assumes the latter view and places the phrase in parentheses.

[52:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “such was the disfigurement.” The noun מִשְׁחַת (mishkhat) occurs only here. It may be derived from the verbal root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “be ruined”; see BDB 1007-8 s.v. שָׁחַת). The construct form appears here before a prepositional phrase (cf. GKC 421 §130.a).

[52:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “from a man his appearance.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.” See BDB 583 s.v.

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “in my ears, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “great and good [houses], without a resident.”

[17:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[17:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”

[17:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.

[17:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”

[17:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ⁷ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[52:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “and his form from the sons of men.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.”

[52:15]  ⁸ tn This statement completes the sentence begun in v. 14a. The introductory כֵּן (ken) answers to the introductory כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher) of v. 14a. Verses 14b-15a are parenthetical, explaining why many were horrified.

[52:15]  ⁹ tn Traditionally the verb יַזֶּה (yazzeh, a Hiphil stem) has been understood as a causative of נָזָה (nazah, “spurt, spatter”) and translated “sprinkle.” In this case the passage pictures the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (or spiritually cleanses) the nations. Though the verb נָזָה does occur in the Hiphil with the meaning “sprinkle,” the usual interpretation is problematic. In all other instances where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is combined with a preposition. This is not the case in Isaiah 52:15, unless one takes the following עָלָיו (’alayv, “on him”) with the preceding line. But then one would have to emend the verb to a plural, make the nations the subject of the verb “sprinkle,” and take the servant as the object. Consequently some interpreters doubt the cultic idea of “sprinkling” is present here. Some emend the text; others propose a homonymic root meaning “spring, leap,” which in the Hiphil could mean “cause to leap, startle” and would fit the parallelism of the verse nicely.

[52:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Because of him kings will shut their mouths,” i.e., be speechless.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verb form with simple vav (ו) introduces a purpose/result clause after the preceding prefixed verb form (probably to be taken as a cohortative; see IBHS 650 §39.2.2a).

[2:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.

[2:3]  ¹⁰ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “walk in his ways.”

[2:3]  ¹² tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”

[2:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[2:4]  ⁹ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[2:4]  ¹⁰ sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:93; M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle. Breaking weapons and fashioning agricultural implements indicates a transition from fear and stress to peace and security.

[53:12]  ¹⁰ tn Scholars have debated the precise meaning of the term רַבִּים (rabbim) that occurs five times in this passage (Isa 52:14, 15; 53:11, 12 [2x]). Its two broad categories of translation are “much”/“many” and “great” (HALOT 1171-72 s.v. I רַב). Unlike other Hebrew terms for might or strength, this term is linked with numbers or abundance. In all sixteen uses outside of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (articular and plural) it signifies an inclusive meaning: “the majority” or “the multitude” (J. Jeremias, TDNT 6:536-37). This term occurs in parallelism with עֲצוּמִים (’atsumim), which normally signifies “numerous” or “large” or “powerful” (through large numbers). Like רַבִּים (rabbim), it refers to greatness in numbers (cf. Deut 4:38; 7:1; 9:1; 11:34). It emphasizes the multitudes with whom the Servant will share the spoil of his victory. As J. Olley wrote: “Yahweh has won the victory and vindicates his Servant, giving to him many subservient people, together with their spoils. These numerous peoples in turn receive blessing, sharing in the “peace” resulting from Yahweh’s victory and the Servant’s suffering” (John W. Olley, “‘The Many’: How Is Isa 53,12a to Be Understood,” Bib 68 [1987]: 330-56).

[53:12]  ¹¹ sn The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.

[53:12]  ¹² tn Heb “because he laid bare his life”; traditionally, ASV “because he (+ hath KJV) poured out his soul (life NIV) unto death.”

[53:12]  ¹³ tn The Hiphil of פָּגַע (paga’) can mean “cause to attack” (v. 6), “urge, plead verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25), or “intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16). Perhaps the third nuance fits best here, for military imagery is employed in the first two lines of the verse.