Yesaya 8:18

8:18 Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me ¹  are reminders and object lessons ²  in Israel, sent from the Lord who commands armies, who lives on Mount Zion.

Yesaya 20:2

20:2 At that time the Lord announced through ³  Isaiah son of Amoz: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments ⁴  and barefoot.

Yesaya 21:2

21:2 I have received a distressing message: ⁵ 

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!” ⁶ 

Yesaya 24:18

24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror

will fall into the pit; ⁷ 

the one who climbs out of the pit,

will be trapped by the snare.

For the floodgates of the heavens ⁸  are opened up ⁹ 

and the foundations of the earth shake.

Yesaya 30:26

30:26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare

and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,

like the light of seven days, ¹⁰ 

when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones ¹¹ 

and heals their severe wound. ¹² 

Yesaya 35:10

35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ¹³ 

They will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ¹⁴ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ¹⁵  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 37:27

37:27 Their residents are powerless; ¹⁷ 

they are terrified and ashamed.

They are as short-lived as plants in the field

or green vegetation. ¹⁸ 

They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops ¹⁹ 

when it is scorched by the east wind. ²⁰ 

Yesaya 41:17

41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched from thirst.

I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ²¹ 

I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

Yesaya 44:7

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ²² 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ²³ 

let them announce future events! ²⁴ 

Yesaya 49:21

49:21 Then you will think to yourself, ²⁵ 

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced. ²⁶ 

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’”

Yesaya 51:11

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ²⁷ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ²⁸  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ²⁹ 

[8:18]  ¹ sn This refers to Shear-jashub (7:3) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8:1, 3).

[8:18]  ² tn Or “signs and portents” (NAB, NRSV). The names of all three individuals has symbolic value. Isaiah’s name (which meant “the Lord delivers”) was a reminder that the Lord was the nation’s only source of protection; Shear-jashub’s name was meant, at least originally, to encourage Ahaz (see the note at 7:3), and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’s name was a guarantee that God would defeat Israel and Syria (see the note at 8:4). The word מוֹפֶת (mofet, “portent”) can often refer to some miraculous event, but in 20:3 it is used, along with its synonym אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) of Isaiah’s walking around half-naked as an object lesson of what would soon happen to the Egyptians.

[20:2]  ³ tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”

[20:2]  ⁴ tn The word used here (עָרוֹם, ’arom) sometimes means “naked,” but here it appears to mean simply “lightly dressed,” i.e., stripped to one’s undergarments. See HALOT 883 s.v. עָרוֹם. The term also occurs in vv. 3, 4.

[21:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

[21:2]  ⁶ sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

[24:18]  ⁷ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[24:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”

[24:18]  ⁹ sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).

[30:26]  ¹⁰ sn Light here symbolizes restoration of divine blessing and prosperity. The number “seven” is used symbolically to indicate intensity. The exact meaning of the phrase “the light of seven days” is uncertain; it probably means “seven times brighter” (see the parallel line).

[30:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB).

[30:26]  sn The Lord is here compared to a physician setting a broken bone in a bandage or cast.

[30:26]  ¹² tn Heb “the injury of his wound.” The joining of synonyms emphasizes the severity of the wound. Another option is to translate, “the wound of his blow.” In this case the pronominal suffix might refer to the Lord, not the people, yielding the translation, “the wound which he inflicted.”

[35:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”

[35:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[35:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”

[35:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

[37:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “short of hand”; KJV, ASV “of small power”; NASB “short of strength.”

[37:27]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.

[37:27]  ²⁰ 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.

[41:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[44:7]  ²² tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ²³ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.

[44:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[49:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

[49:21]  ²⁶ tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

[51:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[51:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”