Yesaya 9:11

9:11 Then the Lord provoked ¹  their adversaries to attack them, ² 

he stirred up ³  their enemies –

Yesaya 40:10

40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; ⁴ 

his military power establishes his rule. ⁵ 

Look, his reward is with him;

his prize goes before him. ⁶ 

Yesaya 51:9

51:9 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ⁷ 

Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!

Did you not smash ⁸  the Proud One? ⁹ 

Did you not ¹⁰  wound the sea monster? ¹¹ 

Yesaya 52:10

52:10 The Lord reveals ¹²  his royal power ¹³ 

in the sight of all the nations;

the entire ¹⁴  earth sees

our God deliver. ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 53:1

53:1 Who would have believed ¹⁶  what we ¹⁷  just heard? ¹⁸ 

When ¹⁹  was the Lord’s power ²⁰  revealed through him?

Yesaya 59:16

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate; ²¹ 

he is shocked ²²  that no one intervenes.

So he takes matters into his own hands; ²³ 

his desire for justice drives him on. ²⁴ 

Yesaya 62:8

62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,

by his strong arm: ²⁵ 

“I will never again give your grain

to your enemies as food,

and foreigners will not drink your wine,

which you worked hard to produce.

Yesaya 63:12

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ²⁶ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ²⁷ 

[9:11]  ¹ tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive continues the narrative of past judgment.

[9:11]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “adversaries of Rezin against him [i.e., them].” The next verse describes how the Syrians (over whom Rezin ruled, see 7:1, 8) and the Philistines encroached on Israel’s territory. Since the Syrians and Israelites were allies by 735 b.c. (see 7:1), the hostilities described probably occurred earlier, while Israel was still pro-Assyrian. In this case one might understand the phrase צָרֵי רְצִין (tsare rÿtsin, “adversaries of Rezin”) as meaning “adversaries sent from Rezin.” However, another option, the one chosen in the translation above, is to emend the phrase to צָרָיו (tsarayv, “his [i.e., their] adversaries”). This creates tighter parallelism with the next line (note “his [i.e., their] enemies”). The phrase in the Hebrew text may be explained as virtually dittographic.

[9:11]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, used, as is often the case in poetry, without vav consecutive. Note that prefixed forms with vav consecutive both precede (וַיְשַׂגֵּב, vaysaggev, “and he provoked”) and follow in v. 12 (וַיֹּאכְלוּ, vayyo’khÿlu, “and they devoured”) this verb.

[40:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “comes as a strong one”; ASV “will come as a mighty one.” The preposition בְּ (bet) here carries the nuance “in the capacity of.” It indicates that the Lord possesses the quality expressed by the noun. See GKC 379 §119.i and HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ.

[40:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “his arm rules for him” (so NIV, NRSV). The Lord’s “arm” symbolizes his military power (see Isa 51:9-10; 63:5).

[40:10]  ⁶ tn As the Lord returns to Jerusalem as a victorious warrior, he brings with him the spoils of victory, called here his “reward” and “prize.” These terms might also be translated “wages” and “recompense.” Verse 11 indicates that his rescued people, likened to a flock of sheep, are his reward.

[51:9]  ⁷ tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.

[51:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”

[51:9]  ⁹ tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).

[51:9]  ¹⁰ tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”

[51:9]  ¹¹ tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.

[52:10]  ¹² tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”

[52:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.

[52:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.

[52:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.

[53:1]  ¹⁶ tn The perfect has a hypothetical force in this rhetorical question. For another example, see Gen 21:7.

[53:1]  ¹⁷ sn The speaker shifts here from God to an unidentified group (note the first person plural pronouns throughout vv. 1-6). The content of the speech suggests that the prophet speaks here as representative of the sinful nation Israel. The group acknowledges its sin and recognizes that the servant suffered on their behalf.

[53:1]  ¹⁸ tn The first half of v. 1 is traditionally translated, “Who has believed our report?” or “Who has believed our message?” as if the group speaking is lamenting that no one will believe what they have to say. But that doesn’t seem to be the point in this context. Here the group speaking does not cast itself in the role of a preacher or evangelist. No, they are repentant sinners, who finally see the light. The phrase “our report” can mean (1) the report which we deliver, or (2) the report which was delivered to us. The latter fits better here, where the report is most naturally taken as the announcement that has just been made in 52:13-15.

[53:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to whom” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[53:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the arm of the Lord.” The “arm of the Lord” is a metaphor of military power; it pictures the Lord as a warrior who bares his arm, takes up his weapon, and crushes his enemies (cf. 51:9-10; 63:5-6). But Israel had not seen the Lord’s military power at work in the servant.

[59:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”

[59:16]  ²² tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”

[59:16]  ²³ tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”

[59:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”

[62:8]  ²⁵ tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.

[63:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”