Yesaya 1:12

1:12 When you enter my presence,

do you actually think I want this –

animals trampling on my courtyards? ¹ 

Yesaya 7:2

7:2 It was reported to the family ²  of David, “Syria has allied with ³  Ephraim.” They and their people were emotionally shaken, just as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. ⁴ 

Yesaya 8:8

8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, ⁵  O Immanuel.” ⁶ 

Yesaya 14:9

14:9 Sheol ⁷  below is stirred up about you,

ready to meet you when you arrive.

It rouses ⁸  the spirits of the dead for you,

all the former leaders of the earth; ⁹ 

it makes all the former kings of the nations

rise from their thrones. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 23:1

The Lord Will Judge Tyre

23:1 Here is a message about Tyre:

Wail, you large ships, ¹¹ 

for the port is too devastated to enter! ¹² 

From the land of Cyprus ¹³  this news is announced to them.

Yesaya 37:7

37:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; ¹⁴  he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down ¹⁵  with a sword in his own land.”’”

Yesaya 43:14

The Lord Will Do Something New

43:14 This is what the Lord says,

your protector, ¹⁶  the Holy One of Israel: ¹⁷ 

“For your sake I send to Babylon

and make them all fugitives, ¹⁸ 

turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 59:4

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ²⁰ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ²¹  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ²² 

and give birth to sin.

Yesaya 60:11

60:11 Your gates will remain open at all times;

they will not be shut during the day or at night,

so that the wealth of nations may be delivered,

with their kings leading the way. ²³ 

[1:12]  ¹ tn Heb “When you come to appear before me, who requires this from your hand, trampling of my courtyards?” The rhetorical question sarcastically makes the point that God does not require this parade of livestock. The verb “trample” probably refers to the eager worshipers and their sacrificial animals walking around in the temple area.

[7:2]  ² tn Heb “house.” In this context the “house of David” includes King Ahaz, his family, and the royal court. See also Jer 21:12; Zech 12:7-8, 10, 12, for a similar use of the phrase.

[7:2]  ³ tn Heb “rests upon.” Most understand the verb as נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”), but HALOT 685 s.v. II נחה proposes that this is a hapax legomenon which means “stand by.”

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his heart shook and the heart of his people shook, like the shaking of the trees of the forest before the wind.” The singular pronoun “his” is collective, referring to the Davidic house/family. לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) here refers to the seat of the emotions.

[8:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.

[8:8]  ⁶ sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

[14:9]  ⁷ sn Sheol is the proper name of the subterranean world which was regarded as the land of the dead.

[14:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “arousing.” The form is probably a Polel infinitive absolute, rather than a third masculine singular perfect, for Sheol is grammatically feminine (note “stirred up”). See GKC 466 §145.t.

[14:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “all the rams of the earth.” The animal epithet is used metaphorically here for leaders. See HALOT 903 s.v. *עַתּוּד.

[14:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lifting from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” הֵקִים (heqim, a Hiphil perfect third masculine singular) should be emended to an infinitive absolute (הָקֵים, haqem). See the note on “rouses” earlier in the verse.

[23:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[23:1]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (bo’) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b.

[23:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים.

[37:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.

[37:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”

[43:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[43:14]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”

[43:14]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.

[59:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ²² tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[60:11]  ²³ tn Or “led in procession.” The participle is passive.