Isaiah 8:16

8:16 Tie up the scroll as legal evidence, ¹ 

seal the official record of God’s instructions and give it to my followers. ² 

Isaiah 26:4

26:4 Trust in the Lord from this time forward, ³ 

even in Yah, the Lord, an enduring protector! ⁴ 

Isaiah 48:21

48:21 They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions;

he makes water flow out of a rock for them;

he splits open a rock and water flows out.’ ⁵ 

Isaiah 30:29

30:29 You will sing

as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.

You will be happy like one who plays a flute

as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel. ⁶ 

Isaiah 44:8

44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ⁷ 

Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?

You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?

There is no other sheltering rock; ⁸  I know of none.

Isaiah 51:1

There is Hope for the Future

51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, ⁹ 

who seek the Lord!

Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,

at the quarry ¹⁰  from which you were dug! ¹¹ 

[8:16]  ¹ tn Heb “tie up [the] testimony.” The “testimony” probably refers to the prophetic messages God has given him. When the prophecies are fulfilled, he will be able to produce this official, written record to confirm the authenticity of his ministry and to prove to the people that God is sovereign over events.

[8:16]  ² tn Heb “seal [the] instruction among my followers.” The “instruction” probably refers to the prophet’s exhortations and warnings. When the people are judged for the sins, the prophet can produce these earlier messages and essentially say, “I told you so.” In this way he can authenticate his ministry and impress upon the people the reality of God’s authority over them.

[26:4]  ³ tn Or “forevermore.” For other uses of the phrase עֲדֵי־עַד (’ade-’ad) see Isa 65:18 and Pss 83:17; 92:7.

[26:4]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has “for in Yah, the Lord, an everlasting rock.” Some have suggested that the phrase בְּיָהּ (beyah, “in Yah”) is the result of dittography. A scribe seeing כִּי יְהוָה (ki yÿhvah) in his original text would somehow have confused the letters and accidentally inserted בְּיָהּ between the words (bet and kaf [ב and כ] can be confused in later script phases). A number of English versions retain both divine names for emphasis (ESV, NIV, NKJV, NRSV, NLT). One of the Qumran texts (1QIsa^a) confirms the MT reading as well.

[48:21]  ⁵ sn The translation above (present tense) assumes that this verse describes God’s provision for returning Babylonian exiles (see v. 20; 35:6; 49:10) in terms reminiscent of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exod 17:6).

[30:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “[you will have] joy of heart, like the one going with a flute to enter the mountain of the Lord to the Rock of Israel.” The image here is not a foundational rock, but a rocky cliff where people could hide for protection (for example, the fortress of Masada).

[44:8]  ⁹ tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.

[44:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[51:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”

[51:1]  ¹² tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”

[51:1]  ¹³ sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.