Yesaya 10:33-34

10:33 Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,

is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. ¹ 

The tallest trees ²  will be cut down,

the loftiest ones will be brought low.

10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,

and mighty Lebanon will fall. ³ 

Yesaya 12:1-2

12:1 At that time ⁴  you will say:

“I praise you, O Lord,

for even though you were angry with me,

your anger subsided, and you consoled me.

12:2 Look, God is my deliverer! ⁵ 

I will trust in him ⁶  and not fear.

For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; ⁷ 

he has become my deliverer.” ⁸ 

Yesaya 14:24-25

14:24 ⁹ The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:

“Be sure of this:

Just as I have intended, so it will be;

just as I have planned, it will happen.

14:25 I will break Assyria ¹⁰  in my land,

I will trample them ¹¹  underfoot on my hills.

Their yoke will be removed from my people,

the burden will be lifted from their shoulders. ¹² 

Yesaya 17:12-14

17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, ¹³ 

those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. ¹⁴ 

The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, ¹⁵ 

those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. ¹⁶ 

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ¹⁷ 

when he shouts at ¹⁸  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ¹⁹  before a strong gale.

17:14 In the evening there is sudden terror; ²⁰ 

by morning they vanish. ²¹ 

This is the fate of those who try to plunder us,

the destiny of those who try to loot us! ²² 

Yesaya 30:30-33

30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout ²³ 

and intervene in power, ²⁴ 

with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ²⁵ 

with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

30:31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria; ²⁶ 

he will beat them with a club.

30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel, ²⁷ 

with which the Lord will beat them, ²⁸ 

will be accompanied by music from the ²⁹  tambourine and harp,

and he will attack them with his weapons. ³⁰ 

30:33 For ³¹  the burial place is already prepared; ³² 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ³³ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ³⁴ 

The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,

will ignite it.

Yesaya 31:4-9

The Lord Will Defend Zion

31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:

“The Lord will be like a growling lion,

like a young lion growling over its prey. ³⁵ 

Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,

it is not afraid of their shouts

or intimidated by their yelling. ³⁶ 

In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ³⁷ 

31:5 Just as birds hover over a nest, ³⁸ 

so the Lord who commands armies will protect Jerusalem. ³⁹ 

He will protect and deliver it;

as he passes over ⁴⁰  he will rescue it.

31:6 You Israelites! Return to the one against whom you have so blatantly rebelled! ⁴¹  31:7 For at that time ⁴²  everyone will get rid of ⁴³  the silver and gold idols your hands sinfully made. ⁴⁴ 

31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made; ⁴⁵ 

a sword not made by humankind will destroy them. ⁴⁶ 

They will run away from this sword ⁴⁷ 

and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.

31:9 They will surrender their stronghold ⁴⁸  because of fear; ⁴⁹ 

their officers will be afraid of the Lord’s battle flag.” ⁵⁰ 

This is what the Lord says –

the one whose fire is in Zion,

whose firepot is in Jerusalem. ⁵¹ 

Yesaya 37:36-38

37:36 The Lord’s messenger ⁵²  went out and killed 185,000 troops ⁵³  in the Assyrian camp. When they ⁵⁴  got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! ⁵⁵  37:37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. ⁵⁶  37:38 One day, ⁵⁷  as he was worshiping ⁵⁸  in the temple of his god Nisroch, ⁵⁹  his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ⁶⁰  They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Yesaya 54:7

54:7 “For a short time I abandoned ⁶¹  you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

[10:33]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text reads “with terrifying power,” or “with a crash.” מַעֲרָצָה (ma’aratsah, “terrifying power” or “crash”) occurs only here. Several have suggested an emendation to מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad, “ax”) parallel to “ax” in v. 34; see HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:448.

[10:33]  sn As in vv. 12 (see the note there) and 18, the Assyrians are compared to a tree/forest in vv. 33-34.

[10:33]  ² tn Heb “the exalted of the height.” This could refer to the highest branches (cf. TEV) or the tallest trees (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[10:34]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has, “and Lebanon, by/as [?] a mighty one, will fall.” The translation above takes the preposition בְּ (bet) prefixed to “mighty one” as indicating identity, “Lebanon, as a mighty one, will fall.” In this case “mighty one” describes Lebanon. (In Ezek 17:23 and Zech 11:2 the adjective is used of Lebanon’s cedars.) Another option is to take the preposition as indicating agency and interpret “mighty one” as a divine title (see Isa 33:21). One could then translate, “and Lebanon will fall by [the agency of] the Mighty One.”

[12:1]  ⁴ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[12:2]  ⁵ tn Or “salvation” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[12:2]  ⁶ tn The words “in him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[12:2]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text has, “for my strength and protection [is] the Lord, the Lord (Heb “Yah, Yahweh).” The word יְהוָה (yehvah) is probably dittographic or explanatory here (note that the short form of the name [יָהּ, yah] precedes, and that the graphically similar וַיְהִי [vayÿhi] follows). Exod 15:2, the passage from which the words of v. 2b are taken, has only יָהּ. The word זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song,” in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing); note that in v. 5 the verb זָמַר (zamar, “sing”) appears. Many recent commentators, however, have argued that the noun is here instead a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v. III *זמר.

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “my savior.”

[14:24]  ⁹ sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.

[14:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

[14:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

[14:25]  ¹² tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

[17:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[17:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”

[17:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.

[17:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”

[17:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[17:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “at the time of evening, look, sudden terror.”

[17:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “before morning he is not.”

[17:14]  ²² tn Heb “this is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who loot us.”

[30:30]  ²³ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[30:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Indeed by the voice of the Lord Assyria will be shattered.”

[30:32]  ²⁷ tc The Hebrew text has “every blow from a founded [i.e., “appointed”?] cudgel.” The translation above, with support from a few medieval Hebrew mss, assumes an emendation of מוּסָדָה (musadah, “founded”) to מוּסָרֹה (musaroh, “his discipline”).

[30:32]  ²⁸ tn Heb “which the Lord lays on him.”

[30:32]  ²⁹ tn Heb “will be with” (KJV similar).

[30:32]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and with battles of brandishing [weapons?] he will fight against him.” Some prefer to emend וּבְמִלְחֲמוֹת (uvÿmilkhamot, “and with battles of”) to וּבִמְחֹלוֹת (uvimkholot, “and with dancing”). Note the immediately preceding references to musical instruments.

[30:33]  ³¹ tn Or “indeed.”

[30:33]  ³² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).

[30:33]  ³³ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”

[30:33]  ³⁴ tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”

[30:33]  sn Apparently this alludes to some type of funeral rite.

[31:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”

[31:4]  ³⁷ tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.

[31:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “just as birds fly.” The words “over a nest” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[31:5]  ³⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[31:5]  ⁴⁰ tn The only other occurrence of this verb is in Exod 12:13, 23, 27, where the Lord “passes over” (i.e., “spares”) the Israelite households as he comes to judge their Egyptian oppressors. The noun פֶּסַח (pesakh, “Passover”) is derived from the verb. The use of the verb in Isa 31:5 is probably an intentional echo of the Exodus event. As in the days of Moses the Lord will spare his people as he comes to judge their enemies.

[31:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Return to the one [against] whom the sons of Israel made deep rebellion.” The syntax is awkward here. A preposition is omitted by ellipsis after the verb (see GKC 446 §138.f, n. 2), and there is a shift from direct address (note the second plural imperative “return”) to the third person (note “they made deep”). For other examples of abrupt shifts in person in poetic style, see GKC 462 §144.p.

[31:7]  ⁴² tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[31:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “reject” (so NIV); NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT “throw away.”

[31:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the idols of their idols of silver and their idols of gold which your hands made for yourselves [in] sin.” חָטָא (khata’, “sin”) is understood as an adverbial accusative of manner. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:573, n. 4.

[31:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”

[31:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”

[31:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”

[31:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “rocky cliff” (cf. ASV, NASB “rock”), viewed metaphorically as a place of defense and security.

[31:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “His rocky cliff, because of fear, will pass away [i.e., “perish”].”

[31:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and they will be afraid of the flag, his officers.”

[31:9]  ⁵¹ sn The “fire” and “firepot” here symbolize divine judgment, which is heating up like a fire in Jerusalem, waiting to be used against the Assyrians when they attack the city.

[37:36]  ⁵² tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[37:36]  ⁵³ tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.

[37:36]  ⁵⁴ tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.

[37:36]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”

[37:37]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”

[37:38]  ⁵⁷ sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681 b.c.

[37:38]  ⁵⁸ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[37:38]  ⁵⁹ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.

[37:38]  ⁶⁰ sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.

[54:7]  ⁶¹ tn Or “forsook” (NASB).