Isaiah 9:2

9:2 (9:1) The people walking in darkness

see a bright light; ¹ 

light shines

on those who live in a land of deep darkness. ² 

Isaiah 10:17

10:17 The light of Israel ³  will become a fire,

their Holy One ⁴  will become a flame;

it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s ⁵  briers

and his thorns in one day.

Isaiah 18:4

18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will wait ⁶  and watch from my place,

like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, ⁷ 

like a cloud of mist ⁸  in the heat ⁹  of harvest.” ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 31:9

31:9 They will surrender their stronghold ¹¹  because of fear; ¹² 

their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.” ¹³ 

This is what the Lord says –

the one whose fire is in Zion,

whose firepot is in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 44:16

44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –

over that half he cooks ¹⁵  meat;

he roasts a meal and fills himself.

Yes, he warms himself and says,

‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’

Isaiah 45:7

45:7 I am ¹⁶  the one who forms light

and creates darkness; ¹⁷ 

the one who brings about peace

and creates calamity. ¹⁸ 

I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

Isaiah 47:14

47:14 Look, they are like straw,

which the fire burns up;

they cannot rescue themselves

from the heat ¹⁹  of the flames.

There are no coals to warm them,

no firelight to enjoy. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 30:26

30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare

and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,

like the light of seven days, ²¹ 

when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones ²² 

and heals their severe wound. ²³ 

[9:2]  ¹ sn The darkness symbolizes judgment and its effects (see 8:22); the light represents deliverance and its effects, brought about by the emergence of a conquering Davidic king (see vv. 3-6).

[9:2]  ² tn Traditionally צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet) has been interpreted as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (so KJV, ASV, NIV), but usage indicates that the word, though it sometimes refers to death, means “darkness.” The term should probably be repointed as an abstract noun צַלְמוּת (tsalmut). See the note at Ps 23:4.

[10:17]  ³ tn In this context the “Light of Israel” is a divine title (note the parallel title “his holy one”). The title points to God’s royal splendor, which overshadows and, when transformed into fire, destroys the “majestic glory” of the king of Assyria (v. 16b).

[10:17]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “his.” In vv. 17-19 the Assyrian king and his empire is compared to a great forest and orchard that are destroyed by fire (symbolic of the Lord).

[18:4]  ⁵ tn Or “be quiet, inactive”; NIV “will remain quiet.”

[18:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.

[18:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”

[18:4]  ⁸ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss, with support from the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, read “the day.”

[18:4]  ⁹ sn It is unclear how the comparisons in v. 4b relate to the preceding statement. How is waiting and watching similar to heat or a cloud? For a discussion of interpretive options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:362.

[31:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “rocky cliff” (cf. ASV, NASB “rock”), viewed metaphorically as a place of defense and security.

[31:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “His rocky cliff, because of fear, will pass away [i.e., “perish”].”

[31:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they will be afraid of the flag, his officers.”

[31:9]  ¹⁰ sn The “fire” and “firepot” here symbolize divine judgment, which is heating up like a fire in Jerusalem, waiting to be used against the Assyrians when they attack the city.

[44:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”

[45:7]  ¹¹ tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.

[45:7]  ¹² tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”

[45:7]  ¹³ sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).

[47:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

[47:14]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

[30:26]  ¹⁵ sn Light here symbolizes restoration of divine blessing and prosperity. The number “seven” is used symbolically to indicate intensity. The exact meaning of the phrase “the light of seven days” is uncertain; it probably means “seven times brighter” (see the parallel line).

[30:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB).

[30:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the injury of his wound.” The joining of synonyms emphasizes the severity of the wound. Another option is to translate, “the wound of his blow.” In this case the pronominal suffix might refer to the Lord, not the people, yielding the translation, “the wound which he inflicted.”