Yesaya 11:15

11:15 The Lord will divide ¹  the gulf ²  of the Egyptian Sea; ³ 

he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ⁴  and send a strong wind, ⁵ 

he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ⁶ 

and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

Yesaya 37:27

37:27 Their residents are powerless; ⁷ 

they are terrified and ashamed.

They are as short-lived as plants in the field

or green vegetation. ⁸ 

They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops ⁹ 

when it is scorched by the east wind. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 45:18

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ¹¹ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ¹² 

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

[11:15]  ¹ tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”

[11:15]  ² tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[11:15]  ³ sn That is, the Red Sea.

[11:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.

[11:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.

[11:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.

[37:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “short of hand”; KJV, ASV “of small power”; NASB “short of strength.”

[37:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.

[37:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.

[37:27]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah, “standing grain”) to קָדִים (qadim, “east wind”) with the support of 1Q Isa^a; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:657, n. 8.

[45:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  ¹² tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.