Yesaya 10:26

10:26 The Lord who commands armies is about to beat them ¹  with a whip, similar to the way he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. ²  He will use his staff against the sea, lifting it up as he did in Egypt. ³ 

Yesaya 11:4

11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, ⁴ 

and make right decisions ⁵  for the downtrodden of the earth. ⁶ 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, ⁷ 

and order the wicked to be executed. ⁸ 

Yesaya 37:36-38

37:36 The Lord’s messenger ⁹  went out and killed 185,000 troops ¹⁰  in the Assyrian camp. When they ¹¹  got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! ¹²  37:37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. ¹³  37:38 One day, ¹⁴  as he was worshiping ¹⁵  in the temple of his god Nisroch, ¹⁶  his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ¹⁷  They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

[10:26]  ¹ tn Heb “him” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); the singular refers to the leader or king who stands for the entire nation. This is specified by NCV, CEV as “the Assyrians.”

[10:26]  ² sn According to Judg 7:25, the Ephraimites executed the Midianite general Oreb at a rock which was subsequently named after the executed enemy.

[10:26]  ³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and his staff [will be] against the sea, and he will lift it in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.” If the text is retained, “the sea” symbolizes Assyria’s hostility, the metaphor being introduced because of the reference to Egypt. The translation above assumes an emendation of עַל הַיָּם (’al hayyam, “against the sea”) to עַלֵיהֶם (’alehem, “against them”). The proposed shift from the third singular pronoun (note “beat him” earlier in the verse) to the plural is not problematic, for the singular is collective. Note that a third plural pronoun is used at the end of v. 25 (“their destruction”). The final phrase, “in the way/manner of Egypt,” probably refers to the way in which God used the staff of Moses to bring judgment down on Egypt.

[11:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”

[11:4]  ⁶ tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).

[11:4]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).

[11:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.

[37:36]  ⁹ tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[37:36]  ¹⁰ tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.

[37:36]  ¹¹ tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.

[37:36]  ¹² tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”

[37:37]  ¹³ tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”

[37:38]  ¹⁴ sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681 b.c.

[37:38]  ¹⁵ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[37:38]  ¹⁶ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.

[37:38]  ¹⁷ sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.