Isaiah 9:8

God’s Judgment Intensifies

9:8 ¹ The sovereign master ²  decreed judgment ³  on Jacob,

and it fell on Israel. ⁴ 

Isaiah 33:7

33:7 Look, ambassadors ⁵  cry out in the streets;

messengers sent to make peace ⁶  weep bitterly.

Isaiah 43:18

43:18 “Don’t remember these earlier events; ⁷ 

don’t recall these former events.

Isaiah 50:3

50:3 I can clothe the sky in darkness;

I can cover it with sackcloth.”

Isaiah 65:20

65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days ⁸ 

or an old man die before his time. ⁹ 

Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, ¹⁰ 

anyone who fails to reach ¹¹  the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.

[9:8]  ¹ sn The following speech (9:8-10:4) assumes that God has already sent judgment (see v. 9), but it also announces that further judgment is around the corner (10:1-4). The speech seems to describe a series of past judgments on the northern kingdom which is ready to intensify further in the devastation announced in 10:1-4. It may have been written prior to the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom in 734-733 b.c., or sometime between that invasion and the downfall of Samaria in 722 b.c. The structure of the speech displays four panels, each of which ends with the refrain, “Through all this, his anger did not subside; his hand remained outstretched” (9:12b; 17b; 21b; 10:4b): Panel I: (A) Description of past judgment (9:8); (B) Description of the people’s attitude toward past judgment (9:9-10); (C) Description of past judgment (9:11-12a); (D) Refrain (9:12b); Panel II: (A) Description of the people’s attitude toward past judgment (9:13); (B) Description of past judgment (9:14-17a); (C) Refrain (9:17b); Panel III: (A) Description of past judgment (9:18-21a); (B) Refrain (9:21b); Panel IV: (A) Woe oracle announcing future judgment (10:1-4a); (B) Refrain (10:4b).

[9:8]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 17 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:8]  ³ tn Heb “sent a word” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “sends a message.”

[9:8]  ⁴ tn The present translation assumes that this verse refers to judgment that had already fallen. Both verbs (perfects) are taken as indicating simple past; the vav (ו) on the second verb is understood as a simple vav conjunctive. Another option is to understand the verse as describing a future judgment (see 10:1-4). In this case the first verb is a perfect of certitude; the vav on the second verb is a vav consecutive.

[33:7]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Proposals include “heroes” (cf. KJV, ASV “valiant ones”; NASB, NIV “brave men”); “priests,” “residents [of Jerusalem].” The present translation assumes that the term is synonymous with “messengers of peace,” with which it corresponds in the parallel structure of the verse.

[33:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).

[43:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “the former things” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “forget all that.”

[65:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.

[65:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”

[65:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.

[65:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”