Yesaya 10:24

10:24 So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

Yesaya 18:2

18:2 that sends messengers by sea,

who glide over the water’s surface in boats made of papyrus.

Go, you swift messengers,

to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, ³ 

to a people that are feared far and wide, ⁴ 

to a nation strong and victorious, ⁵ 

whose land rivers divide. ⁶ 

Yesaya 28:4

28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,

situated at the head of a rich valley,

will be like an early fig before harvest –

as soon as someone notices it,

he grabs it and swallows it. ⁷ 

Yesaya 28:13

28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like

meaningless gibberish,

senseless babbling,

a syllable here, a syllable there. ⁸ 

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, ⁹ 

and be injured, ensnared, and captured. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 41:7

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ¹¹  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ¹² 

and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

Yesaya 48:16

48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!

From the very first I have not spoken in secret;

when it happens, ¹³  I am there.”

So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 65:8

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When ¹⁵  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ¹⁶ 

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 65:22

65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, ¹⁸ 

or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, ¹⁹ 

for my people will live as long as trees, ²⁰ 

and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. ²¹ 

[10:24]  ¹ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

[10:24]  ² tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[18:2]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. מְמֻשָּׁךְ (mÿmushakh) appears to be a Pual participle from the verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh, “to draw, extend”). Lexicographers theorize that it here refers to people who “stretch out,” as it were, or are tall. See BDB 604 s.v. מָשַׁךְ, and HALOT 645-46 s.v. משׁךְ. מוֹרָט (morat) is taken as a Pual participle from מָרַט (marat), which can mean “to pull out [hair],” in the Qal, “become bald” in the Niphal, and “be wiped clean” in the Pual. Lexicographers theorize that the word here refers to people with bare, or smooth, skin. See BDB 598-99 s.v. מָרַט, and HALOT 634-35 s.v. מרט. These proposed meanings, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “from it and onwards.” HALOT 245 s.v. הָלְאָה suggests the translation “far and wide.”

[18:2]  ⁵ tn Once more the precise meaning of the qualifying terms is uncertain. The expression קַו־קָו (qav-qav) is sometimes related to a proposed Arabic cognate and taken to mean “strength” (see BDB 876 II קַו). Others, on the basis of Isa 28:10, 13, understand the form as gibberish (literally, “kav, kav”) and take it to be a reference to this nation’s strange, unknown language. The form מְבוּסָה (mÿvusah) appears to be derived from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”), so lexicographers suggest the meaning “trampling” or “subjugation,” i.e., a nation that subdues others. See BDB 101 s.v. בּוּס and HALOT 541 s.v. מְבוּסָה. These proposals, which are based on etymological speculation, must be regarded as tentative.

[18:2]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the verb בָּזָא (baza’), which occurs only in this oracle (see also v. 7) in the OT, is uncertain. BDB 102 s.v. suggests “divide” on the basis of alleged Aramaic and Arabic cognates; HALOT 117 s.v., citing an alleged Arabic cognate, suggests “wash away.”

[28:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”

[28:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.

[28:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.

[28:13]  ¹⁰ sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

[41:7]  ¹¹ tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ¹² tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[48:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”

[48:16]  ¹⁴ sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.

[65:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”

[65:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”

[65:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”

[65:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”

[65:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”