Yesaya 6:13

6:13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, ¹  like one of the large sacred trees ²  or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. ³  That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” ⁴ 

Yesaya 16:4

16:4 Please let the Moabite fugitives live ⁵  among you.

Hide them ⁶  from the destroyer!”

Certainly ⁷  the one who applies pressure will cease, ⁸ 

the destroyer will come to an end,

those who trample will disappear ⁹  from the earth.

Yesaya 26:11

26:11 O Lord, you are ready to act, ¹⁰ 

but they don’t even notice.

They will see and be put to shame by your angry judgment against humankind, ¹¹ 

yes, fire will consume your enemies. ¹² 

Yesaya 30:30

30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout ¹³ 

and intervene in power, ¹⁴ 

with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ¹⁵ 

with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

Yesaya 33:14

33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;

panic ¹⁶  grips the godless. ¹⁷ 

They say, ¹⁸  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ¹⁹  fire?’

Yesaya 65:22

65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, ²⁰ 

or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, ²¹ 

for my people will live as long as trees, ²² 

and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. ²³ 

[6:13]  ¹ tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”

[6:13]  ² tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).

[6:13]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.

[6:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.

[16:4]  ⁵ tn That is, “live as resident foreigners.”

[16:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “Be a hiding place for them.”

[16:4]  ⁷ tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) as asseverative, but one could take it as explanatory (“for,” KJV, NASB) or temporal (“when,” NAB, NRSV). In the latter case, v. 4b would be logically connected to v. 5.

[16:4]  ⁸ tn A perfect verbal form is used here and in the next two lines for rhetorical effect; the demise of the oppressor(s) is described as if it had already occurred.

[16:4]  ⁹ tc The Hebrew text has, “they will be finished, the one who tramples, from the earth.” The plural verb form תַּמּוּ, (tammu, “disappear”) could be emended to agree with the singular subject רֹמֵס (romes, “the one who tramples”) or the participle can be emended to a plural (רֹמֵסִם, romesim) to agree with the verb. The translation assumes the latter. Haplography of mem (ם) seems likely; note that the word after רֹמֵס begins with a mem.

[26:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “O Lord, your hand is lifted up.”

[26:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “They will see and be ashamed of zeal of people.” Some take the prefixed verbs as jussives and translate the statement as a prayer, “Let them see and be put to shame.” The meaning of the phrase קִנְאַת־עָם (qin’at-’am, “zeal of people”) is unclear. The translation assumes that this refers to God’s angry judgment upon people. Another option is to understand the phrase as referring to God’s zealous, protective love of his covenant people. In this case one might translate, “by your zealous devotion to your people.”

[26:11]  ¹² tn Heb “yes, fire, your enemies, will consume them.” Many understand the prefixed verb form to be jussive and translate, “let [fire] consume” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The mem suffixed to the verb may be enclitic; if a pronominal suffix, it refers back to “your enemies.”

[30:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[33:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

[33:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

[33:14]  ¹⁸ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[65:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”

[65:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”

[65:22]  ²² tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”

[65:22]  ²³ tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”