Yesaya 10:33

10:33 Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,

is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. ¹ 

The tallest trees ²  will be cut down,

the loftiest ones will be brought low.

Yesaya 14:19

14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave

like a shoot that is thrown away. ³ 

You lie among ⁴  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ⁵  the stones of the pit, ⁶ 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ⁷ 

Yesaya 21:9

21:9 Look what’s coming!

A charioteer,

a team of horses.” ⁸ 

When questioned, he replies, ⁹ 

“Babylon has fallen, fallen!

All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

Yesaya 26:5

26:5 Indeed, ¹⁰  the Lord knocks down those who live in a high place,

he brings down an elevated town;

he brings it down to the ground, ¹¹ 

he throws it down to the dust.

Yesaya 38:17

38:17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. ¹² 

You delivered me ¹³  from the pit of oblivion. ¹⁴ 

For you removed all my sins from your sight. ¹⁵ 

[10:33]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text reads “with terrifying power,” or “with a crash.” מַעֲרָצָה (ma’aratsah, “terrifying power” or “crash”) occurs only here. Several have suggested an emendation to מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad, “ax”) parallel to “ax” in v. 34; see HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:448.

[10:33]  sn As in vv. 12 (see the note there) and 18, the Assyrians are compared to a tree/forest in vv. 33-34.

[10:33]  ² tn Heb “the exalted of the height.” This could refer to the highest branches (cf. TEV) or the tallest trees (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[14:19]  ³ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

[14:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ⁶ tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

[14:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[21:9]  ⁸ tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”

[21:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).

[26:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[26:5]  ¹¹ tn The translation assumes that יַשְׁפִּילֶנָּה (yashpilennah) goes with the preceding words “an elevated town,” and that יַשְׁפִּילָהּ (yashpilah) belongs with the following words, “to the ground.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:469, n. 7.

[38:17]  ¹² tn Heb “Look, for peace bitterness was to me bitter”; NAB “thus is my bitterness transformed into peace.”

[38:17]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads, “you loved my soul,” but this does not fit syntactically with the following prepositional phrase. חָשַׁקְתָּ (khashaqta, “you loved”), may reflect an aural error; most emend the form to חָשַׂכְת, (khasakht, “you held back”).

[38:17]  ¹⁴ tn בְּלִי (bÿli) most often appears as a negation, meaning “without,” suggesting the meaning “nothingness, oblivion,” here. Some translate “decay” or “destruction.”

[38:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for you threw behind your back all my sins.”