Yesaya 8:19

Darkness Turns to Light as an Ideal King Arrives

8:19 ¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

Yesaya 14:2

14:2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ⁴  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Yesaya 19:3

19:3 The Egyptians will panic, ⁵ 

and I will confuse their strategy. ⁶ 

They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,

from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ⁷ 

Yesaya 27:11

27:11 When its branches get brittle, ⁸  they break;

women come and use them for kindling. ⁹ 

For these people lack understanding, ¹⁰ 

therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;

the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

Yesaya 28:16

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ¹¹  a stone in Zion,

an approved ¹²  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ¹³ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 36:7

36:7 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’

Yesaya 37:29

37:29 Because you rage against me

and the uproar you create has reached my ears, ¹⁵ 

I will put my hook in your nose, ¹⁶ 

and my bridle between your lips,

and I will lead you back

the way you came.”

Yesaya 44:23

44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; ¹⁷ 

shout out, you subterranean regions ¹⁸  of the earth.

O mountains, give a joyful shout;

you too, O forest and all your trees! ¹⁹ 

For the Lord protects ²⁰  Jacob;

he reveals his splendor through Israel. ²¹ 

Yesaya 51:5

51:5 I am ready to vindicate, ²² 

I am ready to deliver, ²³ 

I will establish justice among the nations. ²⁴ 

The coastlands ²⁵  wait patiently for me;

they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. ²⁶ 

Yesaya 51:13

51:13 Why do you forget ²⁷  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ²⁸ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ²⁹ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ³⁰ 

[8:19]  ¹ tn It is uncertain if the prophet or the Lord is speaking in vv. 19-22. If the latter, then vv. 19-22 resume the speech recorded in vv. 12-15, after the prophet’s response in vv. 16-18.

[8:19]  ² tn Heb “inquire of the ritual pits and of the magicians who chirp and mutter.” The Hebrew word אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a אוֹב-בַּעֲלַת (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.

[8:19]  ³ tn Heb “Should a nation not inquire of its gods on behalf of the living, (by inquiring) of the dead?” These words appear to be a continuation of the quotation begun in the first part of the verse. אֱלֹהָיו (’elohayv) may be translated “its gods” or “its God.” Some take the second half of the verse as the prophet’s (or the Lord’s) rebuke of the people who advise seeking oracles at the ritual pits, but in this case the words “the dead on behalf of the living” are difficult to explain.

[14:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

[19:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”

[19:3]  ⁶ tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.

[19:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.

[27:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[27:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.

[27:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”

[28:16]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ¹² tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ¹³ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[37:29]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).

[37:29]  ¹⁶ sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.

[44:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”

[44:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.

[44:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”

[44:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:23]  ²¹ tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”

[51:5]  ²² tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”

[51:5]  ²³ tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”

[51:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”

[51:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”

[51:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).

[51:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[51:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ³⁰ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.