Isaiah 9:11

9:11 Then the Lord provoked ¹  their adversaries to attack them, ² 

he stirred up ³  their enemies –

Isaiah 42:13

42:13 The Lord emerges like a hero,

like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; ⁴ 

he shouts, yes, he yells,

he shows his enemies his power. ⁵ 

Isaiah 66:14

66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, ⁶ 

and you will be revived. ⁷ 

The Lord will reveal his power to his servants

and his anger to his enemies. ⁸ 

[9:11]  ¹ tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive continues the narrative of past judgment.

[9:11]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[42:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a man of war he stirs up zeal” (NIV similar).

[42:13]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “he triumphs over his enemies” (cf. NIV); NLT “will crush all his enemies.”

[66:14]  ⁷ tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”

[66:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”

[66:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”