Yesaya 9:20

9:20 They devoured ¹  on the right, but were still hungry,

they ate on the left, but were not satisfied.

People even ate ²  the flesh of their own arm! ³ 

Yesaya 24:14

24:14 They ⁴  lift their voices and shout joyfully;

they praise ⁵  the majesty of the Lord in the west.

Yesaya 63:12

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ⁶ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ⁷ 

Yesaya 24:15

24:15 So in the east ⁸  extol the Lord,

along the seacoasts extol ⁹  the fame ¹⁰  of the Lord God of Israel.

Yesaya 11:14

11:14 They will swoop down ¹¹  on the Philistine hills to the west; ¹² 

together they will loot the people of the east.

They will take over Edom and Moab, ¹³ 

and the Ammonites will be their subjects.

Yesaya 48:21

48:21 They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions;

he makes water flow out of a rock for them;

he splits open a rock and water flows out.’ ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 41:25

41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north ¹⁵  and he advances,

one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. ¹⁶ 

He steps on ¹⁷  rulers as if they were clay,

like a potter treading the clay.

Yesaya 30:21

30:21 You ¹⁸  will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,

“This is the correct ¹⁹  way, walk in it,”

whether you are heading to the right or the left.

Yesaya 9:12

9:12 Syria from the east,

and the Philistines from the west,

they gobbled up Israelite territory. ²⁰ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ²¹ 

Yesaya 49:12

49:12 Look, they come from far away!

Look, some come from the north and west,

and others from the land of Sinim! ²² 

Yesaya 14:13

14:13 You said to yourself, ²³ 

“I will climb up to the sky.

Above the stars of El ²⁴ 

I will set up my throne.

I will rule on the mountain of assembly

on the remote slopes of Zaphon. ²⁵ 

Yesaya 14:31

14:31 Wail, O city gate!

Cry out, O city!

Melt with fear, ²⁶  all you Philistines!

For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,

and there are no stragglers in its ranks. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 43:5

43:5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.

From the east I will bring your descendants;

from the west I will gather you.

Yesaya 51:15

51:15 I am the Lord your God,

who churns up the sea so that its waves surge.

The Lord who commands armies is his name!

Yesaya 24:19

24:19 The earth is broken in pieces,

the earth is ripped to shreds,

the earth shakes violently. ²⁸ 

Yesaya 38:2

38:2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,

Yesaya 59:19

59:19 In the west, people respect ²⁹  the Lord’s reputation; ³⁰ 

in the east they recognize his splendor. ³¹ 

For he comes like a rushing ³²  stream

driven on by wind sent from the Lord. ³³ 

Yesaya 6:2

6:2 Seraphs ³⁴  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ³⁵  and they used the remaining two to fly.

Yesaya 45:6

45:6 I do this ³⁶  so people ³⁷  will recognize from east to west

that there is no God but me;

I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Yesaya 64:1

64:1 (63:19b) ³⁸  If only you would tear apart the sky ³⁹  and come down!

The mountains would tremble ⁴⁰  before you!

Yesaya 3:17

3:17 So ⁴¹  the sovereign master ⁴²  will afflict the foreheads of Zion’s women ⁴³  with skin diseases, ⁴⁴ 

the Lord will make the front of their heads bald.” ⁴⁵ 

Yesaya 24:1

The Lord Will Judge the Earth

24:1 Look, the Lord is ready to devastate the earth

and leave it in ruins;

he will mar its surface

and scatter its inhabitants.

Yesaya 7:8

7:8 For Syria’s leader is Damascus,

and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will no longer exist as a nation. ⁴⁶ 

Yesaya 22:9

22:9 You saw the many breaks

in the walls of the city of David; ⁴⁷ 

you stored up water in the lower pool.

Yesaya 30:13

30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.

You will be like a high wall

that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;

it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. ⁴⁸ 

Yesaya 46:11

46:11 who summons an eagle ⁴⁹  from the east,

from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.

Yes, I have decreed, ⁵⁰ 

yes, I will bring it to pass;

I have formulated a plan,

yes, I will carry it out.

Yesaya 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ⁵¹  The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. ⁵² 

In earlier times he ⁵³  humiliated

the land of Zebulun,

and the land of Naphtali; ⁵⁴ 

but now he brings honor ⁵⁵ 

to the way of the sea,

the region beyond the Jordan,

and Galilee of the nations. ⁵⁶ 

Yesaya 11:15

11:15 The Lord will divide ⁵⁷  the gulf ⁵⁸  of the Egyptian Sea; ⁵⁹ 

he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River ⁶⁰  and send a strong wind, ⁶¹ 

he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, ⁶² 

and enable them to walk across in their sandals.

Yesaya 16:8

16:8 For the fields of Heshbon are dried up,

as well as the vines of Sibmah.

The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines,

which reach Jazer and spread to the desert;

their shoots spread out and cross the sea.

Yesaya 17:6

17:6 There will be some left behind,

like when an olive tree is beaten –

two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,

four or five on its fruitful branches,”

says the Lord God of Israel.

Yesaya 30:6

30:6 This is a message ⁶³  about the animals in the Negev:

Through a land of distress and danger,

inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, ⁶⁴ 

by snakes and darting adders, ⁶⁵ 

they transport ⁶⁶  their wealth on the backs of donkeys,

their riches on the humps of camels,

to a nation that cannot help them. ⁶⁷ 

Yesaya 37:24

37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ⁶⁸ 

‘With my many chariots I climbed up

the high mountains,

the slopes of Lebanon.

I cut down its tall cedars

and its best evergreens.

I invaded its most remote regions, ⁶⁹ 

its thickest woods.

Yesaya 41:2

41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? ⁷⁰ 

Who ⁷¹  officially commissions him for service? ⁷² 

He hands nations over to him, ⁷³ 

and enables him to subdue ⁷⁴  kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

like windblown straw with his bow. ⁷⁵ 

Yesaya 47:11

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away. ⁷⁶ 

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it. ⁷⁷ 

Yesaya 56:5

56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument ⁷⁸ 

that will be better than sons and daughters.

I will set up a permanent monument ⁷⁹  for them that will remain.

[9:20]  ¹ tn Or “cut.” The verb גָּזַר (gazar) means “to cut.” If it is understood here, then one might paraphrase, “They slice off meat on the right.” However, HALOT 187 s.v. I גזר, proposes here a rare homonym meaning “to devour.”

[9:20]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.

[9:20]  ³ tn Some suggest that זְרֹעוֹ (zÿro’o, “his arm”) be repointed זַרְעוֹ (zar’o, “his offspring”). In either case, the metaphor is that of a desperately hungry man who resorts to an almost unthinkable act to satisfy his appetite. He eats everything he can find to his right, but still being unsatisfied, then turns to his left and eats everything he can find there. Still being desperate for food, he then resorts to eating his own flesh (or offspring, as this phrase is metaphorically understood by some English versions, e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The reality behind the metaphor is the political turmoil of the period, as the next verse explains. There was civil strife within the northern kingdom; even the descendants of Joseph were at each other’s throats. Then the northern kingdom turned on their southern brother, Judah.

[24:14]  ⁴ sn The remnant of the nations (see v. 13) may be the unspecified subject. If so, then those who have survived the judgment begin to praise God.

[24:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “they yell out concerning.”

[63:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”

[24:15]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “in the lights,” interpreted by some to mean “in the region of light,” referring to the east. Some scholars have suggested the emendation of בָּאֻרִים (ba’urim) to בְּאִיֵּי הַיָּם (bÿ’iyyey hayyam, “along the seacoasts”), a phrase that is repeated in the next line. In this case, the two lines form synonymous parallelism. If one retains the MT reading (as above), “in the east” and “along the seacoasts” depict the two ends of the earth to refer to all the earth (as a merism).

[24:15]  ⁹ tn The word “extol” is supplied in the translation; the verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.

[24:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “name,” which here stands for God’s reputation achieved by his mighty deeds.

[11:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fly.” Ephraim/Judah are compared to a bird of prey.

[11:14]  ¹² tn Heb “on the shoulder of Philistia toward the sea.” This refers to the slopes of the hill country west of Judah. See HALOT 506 s.v. כָּתֵף.

[11:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “Edom and Moab [will be the place of] the outstretching of their hand,” i.e., included in their area of jurisdiction (see HALOT 648 s.v. ח(וֹ)מִשְׁלֹ).

[48:21]  ¹⁴ sn The translation above (present tense) assumes that this verse describes God’s provision for returning Babylonian exiles (see v. 20; 35:6; 49:10) in terms reminiscent of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exod 17:6).

[41:25]  ¹⁵ sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.

[41:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”

[41:25]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (vÿyavo’, “and he comes”), but this is likely a corruption of an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).

[30:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your ears” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:21]  ¹⁹ tn The word “correct’ is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”

[9:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)

[49:12]  ²² tc The MT reads “Sinim” here; the Dead Sea Scrolls read “Syene,” a location in Egypt associated with modern Aswan. A number of recent translations adopt this reading: “Syene” (NAB, NRSV); “Aswan” (NIV); “Egypt” (NLT).

[49:12]  sn The precise location of the land of Sinim is uncertain, but since the north and west are mentioned in the previous line, it was a probably located in the distant east or south.

[14:13]  ²³ tn Heb “you, you said in your heart.”

[14:13]  ²⁴ sn In Canaanite mythology the stars of El were astral deities under the authority of the high god El.

[14:13]  ²⁵ sn Zaphon, the Canaanite version of Olympus, was the “mountain of assembly” where the gods met.

[14:31]  ²⁶ tn Or “despair” (see HALOT 555 s.v. מוג). The form נָמוֹג (namog) should be taken here as an infinitive absolute functioning as an imperative. See GKC 199-200 §72.v.

[14:31]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and there is no one going alone in his appointed places.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. בּוֹדֵד (boded) appears to be a participle from בָּדַד (badad, “be separate”; see BDB 94 s.v. בָּדַד). מוֹעָד (mo’ad) may mean “assembly” or, by extension, “multitude” (see HALOT 558 s.v. *מוֹעָד), but the referent of the third masculine pronominal suffix attached to the noun is unclear. It probably refers to the “nation” mentioned in the next line.

[24:19]  ²⁸ tn Once more repetition is used to draw attention to a statement. In the Hebrew text each lines ends with אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”). Each line also uses a Hitpolel verb form from a geminate root preceded by an emphatic infinitive absolute.

[59:19]  ²⁹ tc Heb “fear.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read “see.”

[59:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and they fear from the west the name of the Lord.”

[59:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “and from the rising of the sun his splendor.”

[59:19]  ³² tn Heb “narrow”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “pent-up.”

[59:19]  ³³ tn Heb “the wind of the Lord drives it on.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh) could be translated “breath” here (see 30:28).

[6:2]  ³⁴ tn Hebrew שָׂרָף (saraf, “seraph”) literally means “burning one,” perhaps suggesting that these creatures had a fiery appearance (cf. TEV, CEV “flaming creatures”; NCV “heavenly creatures of fire”). Elsewhere in the OT the word “seraph” refers to poisonous snakes (Num 21:6; Deut 8:15; Isa 14:29; 30:6). Perhaps they were called “burning ones” because of their appearance or the effect of their venomous bites, which would cause a victim to burn up with fever. It is possible that the seraphs seen by Isaiah were at least partially serpentine in appearance. Though it might seem strange for a snake-like creature to have wings, two of the texts where “seraphs” are snakes describe them as “flying” (Isa 14:29; 30:6), perhaps referring to their darting movements. See the note at 14:29.

[6:2]  ³⁵ sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

[45:6]  ³⁶ tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”

[64:1]  ³⁸ sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[64:1]  ³⁹ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[64:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.

[3:17]  ⁴¹ tn In the Hebrew text vv. 16-17 and one long sentence, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk…, the sovereign master will afflict….” In v. 17 the Lord refers to himself in the third person.

[3:17]  ⁴² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 18 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[3:17]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the daughters of Zion.”

[3:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “a scab” (KJV, ASV); NIV, NCV, CEV “sores.”

[3:17]  ⁴⁵ tn The precise meaning of this line is unclear because of the presence of the rare word פֹּת (pot). Since the verb in the line means “lay bare, make naked,” some take פֹּת as a reference to the genitals (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV, CEV). (In 1 Kgs 7:50 a noun פֹּת appears, with the apparent meaning “socket.”) J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:139, n. 2), basing his argument on alleged Akkadian evidence and the parallelism of the verse, takes פֹּת as “forehead.”

[7:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Ephraim will be too shattered to be a nation”; NIV “to be a people.”

[7:8]  sn This statement is problematic for several reasons. It seems to intrude stylistically, interrupting the symmetry of the immediately preceding and following lines. Furthermore, such a long range prophecy lacks punch in the midst of the immediate crisis. After all, even if Israel were destroyed sometime within the next 65 years, a lot could still happen during that time, including the conquest of Judah and the demise of the Davidic family. Finally the significance of the time frame is uncertain. Israel became an Assyrian province within the next 15 years and ceased to exist as a nation. For these reasons many regard the statement as a later insertion, but why a later editor would include the reference to “65 years” remains a mystery. Some try to relate the prophecy to the events alluded to in Ezra 4:2, 10, which refers to how the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal settled foreigners in former Israelite territory, perhaps around 670 b.c. However, even if the statement is referring to these events, it lacks rhetorical punch in its immediate context and has the earmarks of a later commentary that has been merged with the text in the process of transmission.

[22:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the breaks of the city of David, you saw that they were many.”

[30:13]  ⁴⁸ tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.

[46:11]  ⁴⁹ tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).

[46:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”

[9:1]  ⁵¹ sn In the Hebrew text (BHS) the chapter division comes one verse later than in the English Bible; 9:1 (8:23 HT). Thus 9:2-21 in the English Bible = 9:1-20 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[9:1]  ⁵² tn The Hebrew text reads, “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her.” The feminine singular pronominal suffix “her” must refer to the land (cf. vv. 22a, 23b). So one could translate, “Indeed there will be no gloom for the land which was anxious.” In this case the statement introduces the positive message to follow. Some assume an emendation of לֹא (lo’, “no”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and of לָהּ (lah, “to her”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”), yielding this literal reading: “indeed there is gloom for him, for the one to whom there was anxiety for him.” In this case the statement concludes the preceding description of judgment.

[9:1]  ⁵³ tn The Lord must be understood as the subject of the two verbs in this verse.

[9:1]  ⁵⁴ sn The statement probably alludes to the Assyrian conquest of Israel in ca. 734-733 b.c., when Tiglath-pileser III annexed much of Israel’s territory and reduced Samaria to a puppet state.

[9:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb Just as in earlier times he humiliated…, [in] the latter times he has brought honor.” The main verbs in vv. 1b-4 are Hebrew perfects. The prophet takes his rhetorical stance in the future age of restoration and describes future events as if they have already occurred. To capture the dramatic effect of the original text, the translation uses the English present or present perfect.

[9:1]  ⁵⁶ sn These three geographical designations may refer to provinces established by the Assyrians in 734-733 b.c. The “way of the sea” is the province of Dor, along the Mediterranean coast, the “region beyond the Jordan” is the province of Gilead in Transjordan, and “Galilee of the nations” (a title that alludes to how the territory had been overrun by foreigners) is the province of Megiddo located west of the Sea of Galilee. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 374.

[11:15]  ⁵⁷ tn The verb is usually understood as “put under the ban, destroy,” or emended to חָרָב (kharav, “dry up”). However, HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם proposes a homonymic root meaning “divide.”

[11:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “tongue” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[11:15]  ⁵⁹ sn That is, the Red Sea.

[11:15]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “the river”; capitalized in some English versions (e.g., ASV, NASB, NRSV) as a reference to the Euphrates River.

[11:15]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “with the [?] of his wind” [or “breath”]. The Hebrew term עַיָם (’ayam) occurs only here. Some attempt to relate the word to an Arabic root and translate, “scorching [or “hot”] wind.” This interpretation fits especially well if one reads “dry up” in the previous line. Others prefer to emend the form to עֹצֶם (’otsem, “strong”). See HALOT 817 s.v. עֲצַם.

[11:15]  ⁶² tn Heb “seven streams.” The Hebrew term נַחַל (nakhal, “stream”) refers to a wadi, or seasonal stream, which runs during the rainy season, but is otherwise dry. The context (see v. 15b) here favors the translation, “dried up streams.” The number seven suggests totality and completeness. Here it indicates that God’s provision for escape will be thorough and more than capable of accommodating the returning exiles.

[30:6]  ⁶³ tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”

[30:6]  ⁶⁴ tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.

[30:6]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.

[30:6]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:6]  ⁶⁷ sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.

[37:24]  ⁶⁸ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[37:24]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”

[41:2]  ⁷⁰ sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).

[41:2]  ⁷¹ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.

[41:2]  ⁷² tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”

[41:2]  ⁷³ tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”

[41:2]  ⁷⁴ tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).

[41:2]  ⁷⁵ sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.

[47:11]  ⁷⁶ tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.

[47:11]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”

[56:5]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

[56:5]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).