Isaiah 9:20

9:20 They devoured ¹  on the right, but were still hungry,

they ate on the left, but were not satisfied.

People even ate ²  the flesh of their own arm! ³ 

Isaiah 30:30

30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout ⁴ 

and intervene in power, ⁵ 

with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ⁶ 

with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

Isaiah 40:10

40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; ⁷ 

his military power establishes his rule. ⁸ 

Look, his reward is with him;

his prize goes before him. ⁹ 

Isaiah 44:12

44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool ¹⁰ 

and forges metal over the coals.

He forms it ¹¹  with hammers;

he makes it with his strong arm.

He gets hungry and loses his energy; ¹² 

he drinks no water and gets tired.

Isaiah 48:14

48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!

Who among them ¹³  announced these things?

The Lord’s ally ¹⁴  will carry out his desire against Babylon;

he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 51:9

51:9 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ¹⁶ 

Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!

Did you not smash ¹⁷  the Proud One? ¹⁸ 

Did you not ¹⁹  wound the sea monster? ²⁰ 

Isaiah 52:10

52:10 The Lord reveals ²¹  his royal power ²² 

in the sight of all the nations;

the entire ²³  earth sees

our God deliver. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 59:16

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate; ²⁵ 

he is shocked ²⁶  that no one intervenes.

So he takes matters into his own hands; ²⁷ 

his desire for justice drives him on. ²⁸ 

[9:20]  ¹ tn Or “cut.” The verb גָּזַר (gazar) means “to cut.” If it is understood here, then one might paraphrase, “They slice off meat on the right.” However, HALOT 187 s.v. I גזר, proposes here a rare homonym meaning “to devour.”

[9:20]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ³ tn Some suggest that זְרֹעוֹ (zÿro’o, “his arm”) be repointed זַרְעוֹ (zar’o, “his offspring”). In either case, the metaphor is that of a desperately hungry man who resorts to an almost unthinkable act to satisfy his appetite. He eats everything he can find to his right, but still being unsatisfied, then turns to his left and eats everything he can find there. Still being desperate for food, he then resorts to eating his own flesh (or offspring, as this phrase is metaphorically understood by some English versions, e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The reality behind the metaphor is the political turmoil of the period, as the next verse explains. There was civil strife within the northern kingdom; even the descendants of Joseph were at each other’s throats. Then the northern kingdom turned on their southern brother, Judah.

[30:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[40:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “comes as a strong one”; ASV “will come as a mighty one.” The preposition בְּ (bet) here carries the nuance “in the capacity of.” It indicates that the Lord possesses the quality expressed by the noun. See GKC 379 §119.i and HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ.

[40:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “his arm rules for him” (so NIV, NRSV). The Lord’s “arm” symbolizes his military power (see Isa 51:9-10; 63:5).

[40:10]  ⁹ tn As the Lord returns to Jerusalem as a victorious warrior, he brings with him the spoils of victory, called here his “reward” and “prize.” These terms might also be translated “wages” and “recompense.” Verse 11 indicates that his rescued people, likened to a flock of sheep, are his reward.

[44:12]  ¹⁰ tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.

[44:12]  ¹¹ tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.

[44:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”

[48:14]  ¹³ sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).

[48:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”

[48:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”

[51:9]  ¹⁶ tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.

[51:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”

[51:9]  ¹⁸ tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).

[51:9]  ¹⁹ tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”

[51:9]  ²⁰ tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.

[52:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”

[52:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.

[52:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.

[52:10]  ²² tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.

[59:16]  ²² tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”

[59:16]  ²³ tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”

[59:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”

[59:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”