Yesaya 1:28

1:28 All rebellious sinners will be shattered, ¹ 

those who abandon the Lord will perish.

Yesaya 2:12-13

2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, ² 

for ³  all the high and mighty,

for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;

2:13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,

that are so high and mighty,

for all the oaks of Bashan; ⁴ 

Yesaya 11:2

11:2 The Lord’s spirit will rest on him ⁵  –

a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, ⁶ 

a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, ⁷ 

a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord. ⁸ 

Yesaya 26:16

26:16 O Lord, in distress they looked for you;

they uttered incantations because of your discipline. ⁹ 

Yesaya 26:18

26:18 We were pregnant, we strained,

we gave birth, as it were, to wind. ¹⁰ 

We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;

people to populate the world are not born. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 28:20

28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,

and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. ¹² 

Yesaya 29:2

29:2 I will threaten Ariel,

and she will mourn intensely

and become like an altar hearth ¹³  before me.

Yesaya 42:4

42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed ¹⁴ 

before establishing justice on the earth;

the coastlands ¹⁵  will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 47:5

47:5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, ¹⁷ 

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, ¹⁸  you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’

Yesaya 53:6

53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;

each of us had strayed off on his own path,

but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 62:7

62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, ²⁰ 

until he makes Jerusalem the pride ²¹  of the earth.

Yesaya 66:16

66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity ²² 

with fire and his sword;

the Lord will kill many. ²³ 

[1:28]  ¹ tn Heb “and [there will be] a shattering of rebels and sinners together.”

[2:12]  ² tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] has a day.”

[2:12]  ³ tn Or “against” (NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:13]  ⁴ sn The cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan were well-known for their size and prominence. They make apt symbols here for powerful men who think of themselves as prominent and secure.

[11:2]  ⁵ sn Like David (1 Sam 16:13), this king will be energized by the Lord’s spirit.

[11:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “a spirit of wisdom and understanding.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of wisdom he will possess. His wisdom will enable him to make just legal decisions (v. 3). A very similar phrase occurs in Eph 1:17.

[11:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “a spirit of counsel [or “strategy”] and strength.” The construction is a hendiadys; the point is that he will have the strength/ability to execute the plans/strategies he devises. This ability will enable him to suppress oppressors and implement just policies (v. 4).

[11:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.” “Knowledge” is used here in its covenantal sense and refers to a recognition of God’s authority and a willingness to submit to it. See Jer 22:16. “Fear” here refers to a healthy respect for God’s authority which produces obedience. Taken together the two terms emphasize the single quality of loyalty to the Lord. This loyalty guarantees that he will make just legal decisions and implement just policies (vv. 4-5).

[26:16]  ⁹ tn The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and BDB 823 s.v.) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.

[26:18]  ¹⁰ tn On the use of כְּמוֹ (kÿmo, “like, as”) here, see BDB 455 s.v. Israel’s distress and suffering, likened here to the pains of childbirth, seemed to be for no purpose. A woman in labor endures pain with the hope that a child will be born; in Israel’s case no such positive outcome was apparent. The nation was like a woman who strains to bring forth a child, but can’t push the baby through to daylight. All her effort produces nothing.

[26:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the world do not fall.” The term נָפַל (nafal) apparently means here, “be born,” though the Qal form of the verb is not used with this nuance anywhere else in the OT. (The Hiphil appears to be used in the sense of “give birth” in v. 19, however.) The implication of verse 18b seems to be that Israel hoped its suffering would somehow end in deliverance and an increase in population. The phrase “inhabitants of the world” seems to refer to the human race in general, but the next verse, which focuses on Israel’s dead, suggests the referent may be more limited.

[28:20]  ¹² sn The bed and blanket probably symbolize their false sense of security. A bed that is too short and a blanket that is too narrow may promise rest and protection from the cold, but in the end they are useless and disappointing. In the same way, their supposed treaty with death will prove useless and disappointing.

[29:2]  ¹³ tn The term אֲרִיאֵל (’ari’el, “Ariel”) is the word translated “altar hearth” here. The point of the simile is not entirely clear. Perhaps the image likens Jerusalem’s coming crisis to a sacrificial fire.

[42:4]  ¹⁴ tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.

[42:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”

[42:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).

[47:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “darkness,” which may indicate a place of hiding where a fugitive would seek shelter and protection.

[47:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

[53:6]  ¹⁹ tn Elsewhere the Hiphil of פָגַע (paga’) means “to intercede verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25) or “to intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16), but neither nuance fits here. Apparently here the Hiphil is the causative of the normal Qal meaning, “encounter, meet, touch.” The Qal sometimes refers to a hostile encounter or attack; when used in this way the object is normally introduced by the preposition -בְּ (bet, see Josh 2:16; Judg 8:21; 15:12, etc.). Here the causative Hiphil has a double object – the Lord makes “sin” attack “him” (note that the object attacked is introduced by the preposition -בְּ. In their sin the group was like sheep who had wandered from God’s path. They were vulnerable to attack; the guilt of their sin was ready to attack and destroy them. But then the servant stepped in and took the full force of the attack.

[62:7]  ²⁰ tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.

[62:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”

[66:16]  ²² tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”

[66:16]  ²³ tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”