Isaiah 8:8

8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, ¹  O Immanuel.” ² 

Isaiah 28:17-18

28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,

fairness the plumb line;

hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, ³ 

the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.

28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; ⁴ 

your agreement ⁵  with Sheol will not last. ⁶ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, ⁷ 

you will be overrun by it. ⁸ 

Isaiah 29:6

29:6 Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, ⁹ 

accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,

by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

Habakkuk 3:12-15

3:12 You furiously stomp on the earth,

you angrily trample down the nations.

3:13 You march out to deliver your people,

to deliver your special servant. ¹⁰ 

You strike the leader of the wicked nation, ¹¹ 

laying him open from the lower body to the neck. ¹²  Selah.

3:14 You pierce the heads of his warriors ¹³  with a spear. ¹⁴ 

They storm forward to scatter us; ¹⁵ 

they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition. ¹⁶ 

3:15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,

on the surging, raging waters. ¹⁷ 

[8:8]  ¹ tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.

[8:8]  ² sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

[28:17]  ³ tn Heb “[the] refuge, [the] lie.” See v. 15.

[28:18]  ⁴ tn On the meaning of כָּפַר (kafar) in this context, see HALOT 494 s.v. I כפר and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:515, n. 9.

[28:18]  ⁵ tn Normally the noun חָזוּת (khazut) means “vision.” See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ⁶ tn Or “will not stand” (NIV, NRSV).

[28:18]  ⁷ tn See the note at v. 15.

[28:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “you will become a trampling place for it.”

[29:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] there will be visitation.” The third feminine singular passive verb form תִּפָּקֵד (tippaqed, “she/it will be visited”) is used here in an impersonal sense. See GKC 459 §144.b.

[3:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “anointed one.” In light of the parallelism with “your people” in the preceding line this could refer to Israel, but elsewhere the Lord’s anointed one is always an individual. The Davidic king is the more likely referent here.

[3:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you strike the head from the house of wickedness.”

[3:13]  ¹² tn Heb “laying bare [from] foundation to neck.”

[3:14]  ¹³ tn Some take “warriors” with the following line, in which case one should translate, “you pierce [his] head with a spear; his warriors storm forward to scatter us” (cf. NIV). The meaning of the Hebrew term פְּרָזוֹ (pÿrazo), translated here “his warriors,” is uncertain.

[3:14]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “his shafts.” Some emend to “your shafts.” The translation above assumes an emendation to מַטֶּה (matteh, “shaft, spear”), the vav-yod (ו-י) sequence being a corruption of an original he (ה).

[3:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “me,” but the author speaks as a representative of God’s people.

[3:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “their rejoicing is like devouring the poor in secret.”

[3:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the foaming of the mighty [or “many”] waters.”