Isaiah 8:2

8:2 Then I will summon ¹  as my reliable witnesses Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

Isaiah 9:11

9:11 Then the Lord provoked ²  their adversaries to attack them, ³ 

he stirred up ⁴  their enemies –

Isaiah 9:13

9:13 The people did not return to the one who struck them,

they did not seek reconciliation ⁵  with the Lord who commands armies.

Isaiah 22:9

22:9 You saw the many breaks

in the walls of the city of David; ⁶ 

you stored up water in the lower pool.

Isaiah 28:9

28:9 Who is the Lord ⁷  trying to teach?

To whom is he explaining a message? ⁸ 

Those just weaned from milk!

Those just taken from their mother’s breast! ⁹ 

Isaiah 37:18

37:18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations ¹⁰  and their lands.

Isaiah 38:6

38:6 and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city.”’”

[8:2]  ¹ tn The form in the text is a cohortative with prefixed vav (ו), suggesting that the Lord is announcing what he will do. Some prefer to change the verb to an imperative, “and summon as witnesses,” a reading that finds support from the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a. Another option is to point the prefixed conjunction as a vav consecutive and translate, “So I summoned as witnesses.” In this case Isaiah is recalling his response to the Lord’s commission. In any case, the reference to witnesses suggests that the name and the child who bears it will function as signs.

[9:11]  ² tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive continues the narrative of past judgment.

[9:11]  ³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “adversaries of Rezin against him [i.e., them].” The next verse describes how the Syrians (over whom Rezin ruled, see 7:1, 8) and the Philistines encroached on Israel’s territory. Since the Syrians and Israelites were allies by 735 b.c. (see 7:1), the hostilities described probably occurred earlier, while Israel was still pro-Assyrian. In this case one might understand the phrase צָרֵי רְצִין (tsare rÿtsin, “adversaries of Rezin”) as meaning “adversaries sent from Rezin.” However, another option, the one chosen in the translation above, is to emend the phrase to צָרָיו (tsarayv, “his [i.e., their] adversaries”). This creates tighter parallelism with the next line (note “his [i.e., their] enemies”). The phrase in the Hebrew text may be explained as virtually dittographic.

[9:11]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, used, as is often the case in poetry, without vav consecutive. Note that prefixed forms with vav consecutive both precede (וַיְשַׂגֵּב, vaysaggev, “and he provoked”) and follow in v. 12 (וַיֹּאכְלוּ, vayyo’khÿlu, “and they devoured”) this verb.

[9:13]  ³ tn This verse describes the people’s response to the judgment described in vv. 11-12. The perfects are understood as indicating simple past.

[22:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the breaks of the city of David, you saw that they were many.”

[28:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “Who is he teaching knowledge? For whom is he explaining a message?” The translation assumes that the Lord is the subject of the verbs “teaching” and “explaining,” and that the prophet is asking the questions. See v. 12. According to some vv. 9-10 record the people’s sarcastic response to the Lord’s message through Isaiah.

[28:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the breasts.” The words “their mother’s” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The translation assumes that this is the prophet’s answer to the questions asked in the first half of the verse. The Lord is trying to instruct people who are “infants” morally and ethically.

[37:18]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text here has “all the lands,” but the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:17 has “the nations.”