Yesaya 13:4

13:4 ¹ There is a loud noise on the mountains –

it sounds like a large army! ² 

There is great commotion among the kingdoms ³  –

nations are being assembled!

The Lord who commands armies is mustering

forces for battle.

Yesaya 30:25

30:25 On every high mountain

and every high hill

there will be streams flowing with water,

at the time of ⁴  great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.

Yesaya 40:15

40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are regarded as dust on the scales.

He lifts ⁵  the coastlands ⁶  as if they were dust.

Yesaya 42:10

42:10 Sing to the Lord a brand new song!

Praise him ⁷  from the horizon of the earth,

you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, ⁸ 

you coastlands ⁹  and those who live there!

Yesaya 53:9

53:9 They intended to bury him with criminals, ¹⁰ 

but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb, ¹¹ 

because ¹²  he had committed no violent deeds,

nor had he spoken deceitfully.

Yesaya 56:10

56:10 All their watchmen ¹³  are blind,

they are unaware. ¹⁴ 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ¹⁵  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Yesaya 66:18

66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ¹⁶  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ¹⁷  they will come and witness my splendor.

[13:4]  ¹ sn In vv. 4-10 the prophet appears to be speaking, since the Lord is referred to in the third person. However, since the Lord refers to himself in the third person later in this chapter (see v. 13), it is possible that he speaks throughout the chapter.

[13:4]  ² tn Heb “a sound, a roar [is] on the mountains, like many people.”

[13:4]  ³ tn Heb “a sound, tumult of kingdoms.”

[30:25]  ⁴ tn Or “in the day of” (KJV).

[40:15]  ⁵ tn Or “weighs” (NIV); NLT “picks up.”

[40:15]  ⁶ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV, NLT).

[42:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “his praise.” The phrase stands parallel to “new song” in the previous line.

[42:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “and its fullness”; NASB, NIV “and all that is in it.”

[42:10]  ⁹ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “distant coastlands.”

[53:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one assigned his grave with criminals.” The subject of the singular is impersonal; English typically uses “they” in such constructions.

[53:9]  ¹¹ tn This line reads literally, “and with the rich in his death.” בְּמֹתָיו (bÿmotayv) combines a preposition, a plural form of the noun מוֹת (mot), and a third masculine singular suffix. The plural of the noun is problematic and the יו may be the result of virtual dittography. The form should probably be emended to בָּמָתוֹ (bamato, singular noun). The relationship between this line and the preceding one is uncertain. The parallelism appears to be synonymous (note “his grave” and “in his death”), but “criminals” and “the rich” hardly make a compatible pair in this context, for they would not be buried in the same kind of tomb. Some emend עָשִׁיר (’ashir, “rich”) to עָשֵׂי רָע (’ase ra’, “doers of evil”) but the absence of the ayin (ע) is not readily explained in this graphic environment. Others suggest an emendation to שְׂעִירִים (sÿ’irim, “he-goats, demons”), but the meaning in this case is not entirely transparent and the proposal assumes that the form suffered from both transposition and the inexplicable loss of a final mem. Still others relate עָשִׁיר (’ashir) to an alleged Arabic cognate meaning “mob.” See HALOT 896 s.v. עָשִׁיר. Perhaps the parallelism is antithetical, rather than synonymous. In this case, the point is made that the servant’s burial in a rich man’s tomb, in contrast to a criminal’s burial, was appropriate, for he had done nothing wrong.

[53:9]  ¹² tn If the second line is antithetical, then עַל (’al) is probably causal here, explaining why the servant was buried in a rich man’s tomb, rather than that of criminal. If the first two lines are synonymous, then עַל is probably concessive: “even though….”

[56:10]  ¹³ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

[66:18]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[66:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”