Yesaya 14:19

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

like a shoot that is thrown away. ¹ 

You lie among ²  the slain,

among those who have been slashed by the sword,

among those headed for ³  the stones of the pit, ⁴ 

as if you were a mangled corpse. ⁵ 

Yesaya 51:23

51:23 I will put it into the hand of your tormentors ⁶ 

who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’

You made your back like the ground,

and like the street for those who walked over you.”

[14:19]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “are clothed with.”

[14:19]  ³ tn Heb “those going down to.”

[14:19]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

[51:23]  ⁶ tn That is, to make them drink it.