Yesaya 5:26-30

5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, ¹ 

he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.

Look, they ²  come quickly and swiftly.

5:27 None tire or stumble,

they don’t stop to nap or sleep.

They don’t loosen their belts,

or unstrap their sandals to rest. ³ 

5:28 Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows are prepared. ⁴ 

The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, ⁵ 

and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. ⁶ 

5:29 Their roar is like a lion’s;

they roar like young lions.

They growl and seize their prey;

they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.

5:30 At that time ⁷  they will growl over their prey, ⁸ 

it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ⁹ 

One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,

clouds will turn the light into darkness. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 28:2

28:2 Look, the sovereign master ¹¹  sends a strong, powerful one. ¹² 

With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, ¹³ 

with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, ¹⁴ 

he will knock that crown ¹⁵  to the ground with his hand. ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 30:30

30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout ¹⁷ 

and intervene in power, ¹⁸ 

with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ¹⁹ 

with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

Yesaya 33:11-14

33:11 You conceive straw, ²⁰ 

you give birth to chaff;

your breath is a fire that destroys you. ²¹ 

33:12 The nations will be burned to ashes; ²² 

like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.

33:13 You who are far away, listen to what I have done!

You who are close by, recognize my strength!”

33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;

panic ²³  grips the godless. ²⁴ 

They say, ²⁵  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ²⁶  fire?’

[5:26]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has literally, “for nations from a distance.” The following verses use singular forms to describe this nation, so the final mem (ם) on לְגּוֹיִם (lÿgoyim) may be enclitic or dittographic. In the latter case one could read לְגוֹי מֵרָחוֹק (lÿgoy merakhoq, “for a nation from a distance”; see Deut 28:49; Joel 3:8). Another possibility is to emend the text from לַגּוֹיִם מֵרָחוֹק (laggoyim merakhoq) to לְגוֹי מִמֶּרְחָק (lÿgoy mimmerkhaq, “for a nation from a distant place”) a phrase which occurs in Jer 5:15. In this case an error of misdivision has occurred in MT, the mem of the prefixed preposition being accidentally taken as a plural ending on the preceding word.

[5:26]  ² tn Heb “he.” Singular forms are used throughout vv. 26-30 to describe this nation, but for stylistic reasons the translation uses the plural for these collective singulars.

[5:27]  ³ tn Heb “and the belt on his waist is not opened, and the thong of his sandals is not torn in two.”

[5:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “bent” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “are strung.”

[5:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “regarded like flint.”

[5:28]  ⁶ sn They are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way they kick up dust.

[5:30]  ⁷ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[5:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “over it”; the referent (the prey) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “like the growling of the sea.”

[5:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and one will gaze toward the land, and look, darkness of distress, and light will grow dark by its [the land’s?] clouds.”

[5:30]  sn The motif of light turning to darkness is ironic when compared to v. 20. There the sinners turn light (= moral/ethical good) to darkness (= moral/ethical evil). Now ironically the Lord will turn light (= the sinners’ sphere of existence and life) into darkness (= the judgment and death).

[28:2]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 22 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[28:2]  ¹² tn Heb “Look, a strong and powerful [one] belongs to the Lord.”

[28:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “like a rainstorm of hail, a wind of destruction.”

[28:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like a rainstorm of mighty, overflowing waters.”

[28:2]  ¹⁵ tn The words “that crown” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The object of the verb is unexpressed in the Hebrew text.

[28:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “by [his] power.”

[30:30]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[33:11]  ²⁰ tn The second person verb and pronominal forms in this verse are plural. The hostile nations are the addressed, as the next verse makes clear.

[33:11]  ²¹ sn The hostile nations’ plans to destroy God’s people will come to nothing; their hostility will end up being self-destructive.

[33:12]  ²² tn Heb “will be a burning to lime.” See Amos 2:1.

[33:14]  ²³ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

[33:14]  ²⁴ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

[33:14]  ²⁵ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:14]  ²⁶ tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).