Isaiah 9:12

9:12 Syria from the east,

and the Philistines from the west,

they gobbled up Israelite territory. ¹ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ² 

Isaiah 10:4

10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,

or to fall among those who have been killed. ³ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁴ 

Isaiah 11:15

11:15 The Lord will divide ⁵  the gulf ⁶  of the Egyptian Sea; ⁷ 

he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ⁸  and send a strong wind, ⁹ 

he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ¹⁰ 

and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

Isaiah 31:3

31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;

their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.

The Lord will strike with ¹¹  his hand;

the one who helps will stumble

and the one being helped will fall.

Together they will perish. ¹² 

Isaiah 44:5

44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’

and another will use ¹³  the name ‘Jacob.’

One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

and use the name ‘Israel.’” ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 56:2

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ¹⁵ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ¹⁶ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ¹⁷ 

[9:12]  ¹ tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”

[9:12]  ² tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)

[10:4]  ³ tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.

[10:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”

[11:15]  ⁵ tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”

[11:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[11:15]  ⁷ sn That is, the Red Sea.

[11:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.

[11:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.

[11:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.

[31:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”

[44:5]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”

[44:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”

[56:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ¹² tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ¹³ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”