Yesaya 22:7

22:7 Your very best valleys were full of chariots; ¹ 

horsemen confidently took their positions ²  at the gate.

Yesaya 22:21

22:21 I will put your robe on him, tie your belt around him, and transfer your authority to him. ³  He will become a protector of ⁴  the residents of Jerusalem and of the people ⁵  of Judah.

Yesaya 55:3

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ⁶ 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ⁷  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ⁸ 

Yesaya 61:8

61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice

and hate robbery and sin.

I will repay them because of my faithfulness; ⁹ 

I will make a permanent covenant with them.

Yesaya 49:18

49:18 Look all around you! ¹⁰ 

All of them gather to you.

As surely as I live,” says the Lord,

“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;

you will put them on as if you were a bride.

Yesaya 45:1

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ¹¹  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ¹² 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ¹³ 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

Yesaya 28:15

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ¹⁴  we have made an agreement. ¹⁵ 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ¹⁶ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 11:5

11:5 Justice will be like a belt around his waist,

integrity will be like a belt around his hips. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 22:3

22:3 ¹⁹ All your leaders ran away together –

they fled to a distant place;

all your refugees ²⁰  were captured together –

they were captured without a single arrow being shot. ²¹ 

Yesaya 3:20

3:20 headdresses, ankle ornaments, sashes, sachets, ²²  amulets,

Yesaya 3:23

3:23 garments, vests, head coverings, and gowns. ²³ 

Yesaya 5:27

5:27 None tire or stumble,

they don’t stop to nap or sleep.

They don’t loosen their belts,

or unstrap their sandals to rest. ²⁴ 

Yesaya 52:2

52:2 Shake off the dirt! ²⁵ 

Get up, captive ²⁶  Jerusalem!

Take off the iron chains around your neck,

O captive daughter Zion!

Yesaya 23:10

23:10 Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;

there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 45:5

45:5 I am the Lord, I have no peer, ²⁸ 

there is no God but me.

I arm you for battle, ²⁹  even though you do not recognize ³⁰  me.

Yesaya 3:24

3:24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices, ³¹ 

a rope will replace a belt,

baldness will replace braided locks of hair,

a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,

and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.

Yesaya 8:9

8:9 You will be broken, ³²  O nations;

you will be shattered! ³³ 

Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!

Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! ³⁴ 

Yesaya 28:22

28:22 So now, do not mock,

or your chains will become heavier!

For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,

from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ³⁵ 

Yesaya 3:18

3:18 ³⁶ At that time ³⁷  the sovereign master will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry, ³⁸  neck ornaments, crescent shaped ornaments,

Yesaya 32:11

32:11 Tremble, you complacent ones!

Shake with fear, you carefree ones!

Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –

put sackcloth on your waist! ³⁹ 

Yesaya 9:4

9:4 For their oppressive yoke

and the club that strikes their shoulders,

the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ⁴⁰ 

you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ⁴¹ 

Yesaya 24:22

24:22 They will be imprisoned in a pit, ⁴² 

locked up in a prison,

and after staying there for a long time, ⁴³  they will be punished. ⁴⁴ 

Yesaya 33:23

33:23 Though at this time your ropes are slack, ⁴⁵ 

the mast is not secured, ⁴⁶ 

and the sail ⁴⁷  is not unfurled,

at that time you will divide up a great quantity of loot; ⁴⁸ 

even the lame will drag off plunder. ⁴⁹ 

Yesaya 58:6

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ⁵⁰ 

I want you ⁵¹  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ⁵² 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

Yesaya 41:7

41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages ⁵³  the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding, ⁵⁴ 

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

Yesaya 50:11

50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire

and who equip yourselves with ⁵⁵  flaming arrows, ⁵⁶ 

walk ⁵⁷  in the light ⁵⁸  of the fire you started

and among the flaming arrows you ignited! ⁵⁹ 

This is what you will receive from me: ⁶⁰ 

you will lie down in a place of pain. ⁶¹ 

[22:7]  ¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[22:7]  ² tn Heb “taking a stand, take their stand.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. The translation attempts to bring out this emphasis with the adverb “confidently.”

[22:21]  ³ tn Heb “and your dominion I will place in his hand.”

[22:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “a father to.” The Hebrew term אָב (’av, “father”) is here used metaphorically of one who protects and supports those under his care and authority, like a father does his family. For another example of this metaphorical use of the word, see Job 29:16.

[22:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[55:3]  ⁶ tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  sn To live here refers to covenantal blessing, primarily material prosperity and national security (see vv. 4-5, 13, and Deut 30:6, 15, 19-20).

[55:3]  ⁷ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[61:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “in faithfulness”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “faithfully.”

[49:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see.”

[45:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ¹² sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”

[28:15]  ¹⁴ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ¹⁵ tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ¹⁷ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.

[11:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Justice will be the belt [or “undergarment”] on his waist, integrity the belt [or “undergarment”] on his hips.” The point of the metaphor is uncertain. If a belt worn outside the robe is in view, then the point might be that justice/integrity will be readily visible or that these qualities will give support to his rule. If an undergarment is in view, then the idea might be that these characteristics support his rule or that they are basic to everything else.

[22:3]  ¹⁹ tn Verse 3 reads literally, “All your leaders ran away, apart from a bow they were captured, all your found ones were captured together, to a distant place they fled.” J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:403, n. 3) suggests that the lines of the verse are arranged chiastically; lines 1 and 4 go together, while lines 2 and 3 are parallel. To translate the lines in the order they appear in the Hebrew text is misleading to the English reader, who is likely unfamiliar with, or at least insensitive to, chiastic parallelism. Consequently, the translation above arranges the lines as follows: line 1 (Hebrew) = line 1 (in translation); line 2 (Hebrew) = line 4 (in translation); line 3 (Hebrew) = line 3 (in translation); line 4 (Hebrew) = line 2 (in translation).

[22:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all your found ones.” To achieve tighter parallelism (see “your leaders”) some prefer to emend the form to אַמִּיצַיִךְ (’ammitsayikh, “your strong ones”) or to נֶאֱמָצַיִךְ (ne’ematsayikh, “your strengthened ones”).

[22:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “apart from [i.e., without] a bow they were captured”; cf. NAB, NRSV “without the use of a bow.”

[3:20]  ²² tn Heb “houses of breath.” HALOT 124 s.v. בַּיִת defines them as “scent-bottles”; cf. NAB, NRSV “perfume boxes.”

[3:23]  ²³ tn The precise meaning of many of the words in this list is uncertain.

[3:23]  sn The rhetorical purpose for such a lengthy list is to impress on the audience the guilt of these women with their proud, materialistic attitude, whose husbands and fathers have profited at the expense of the poor.

[5:27]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the belt on his waist is not opened, and the thong of his sandals is not torn in two.”

[52:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Shake yourself free from the dirt.”

[52:2]  ²⁶ tc The Hebrew text has שְּׂבִי (shÿvi), which some understand as a feminine singular imperative from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit”). The LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum support the MT reading (the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does indirectly). Some interpret this to mean “take your throne”: The Lord exhorts Jerusalem to get up from the dirt and sit, probably with the idea of sitting in a place of honor (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:361). However, the form is likely a corruption of שְׁבִיָּה (shÿviyyah, “captive”), which appears in the parallel line.

[23:10]  ²⁷ tc This meaning of this verse is unclear. The Hebrew text reads literally, “Cross over your land, like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish, there is no more waistband.” The translation assumes an emendation of מֵזַח (mezakh, “waistband”) to מָחֹז (makhoz, “harbor, marketplace”; see Ps 107:30). The term עָבַר (’avar, “cross over”) is probably used here of traveling over the water (as in v. 6). The command is addressed to personified Tarshish, who here represents her merchants. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has עבדי (“work, cultivate”) instead of עִבְרִי (’ivri, “cross over”). In this case one might translate “Cultivate your land, like they do the Nile region” (cf. NIV, CEV). The point would be that the people of Tarshish should turn to agriculture because they will no longer be able to get what they need through the marketplace in Tyre.

[45:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (’od) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.

[45:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).

[45:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”

[3:24]  ³¹ tn Heb “and it will be in place of spices there will be a stench.” The nouns for “spices” and “stench” are right next to each other in the MT for emphatic contrast. The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[8:9]  ³² tn The verb רֹעוּ (ro’u) is a Qal imperative, masculine plural from רָעַע (ra’a’, “break”). Elsewhere both transitive (Job 34:24; Ps 2:9; Jer 15:12) and intransitive (Prov 25:19; Jer 11:16) senses are attested for the Qal of this verb. Because no object appears here, the form is likely intransitive: “be broken.” In this case the imperative is rhetorical (like “be shattered” later in the verse) and equivalent to a prediction, “you will be broken.” On the rhetorical use of the imperative in general, see IBHS 572 §34.4c; GKC 324 §110.c.

[8:9]  ³³ tn The imperatival form (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speaker’s firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. See the note on “be broken.”

[8:9]  ³⁴ tn The initial imperative (“get ready for battle”) acknowledges the reality of the nations’ hostility; the concluding imperative (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speakers’ firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. (See the note on “be broken.”) One could paraphrase, “Okay, go ahead and prepare for battle since that’s what you want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll be shattered.” This rhetorical use of the imperatives is comparable to saying to a child who is bent on climbing a high tree, “Okay, go ahead, climb the tree and break your arm!” What this really means is: “Okay, go ahead and climb the tree since that’s what you really want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll break your arm.” The repetition of the statement in the final two lines of the verse gives the challenge the flavor of a taunt (ancient Israelite “trash talking,” as it were).

[28:22]  ³⁵ tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).

[3:18]  ³⁶ sn The translation assumes that the direct quotation ends with v. 17. The introductory formula “in that day” and the shift from a poetic to prosaic style indicate that a new speech unit begins in v. 18.

[3:18]  ³⁷ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[3:18]  ³⁸ tn Or “the beauty of [their] ankle jewelry.”

[32:11]  ³⁹ tn The imperatival forms in v. 11 are problematic. The first (חִרְדוּ, khirdu, “tremble”) is masculine plural in form, though spoken to a feminine plural addressee (שַׁאֲנַנּוֹת, sha’anannot, “complacent ones”). The four imperatival forms that follow (רְגָזָה, rÿgazah, “shake with fear”; פְּשֹׁטָה, pÿshotah, “strip off your clothes”; עֹרָה, ’orah, “expose yourselves”; and חֲגוֹרָה, khagorah, “put on”) all appear to be lengthened (so-called “emphatic”) masculine singular forms, even though they too appear to be spoken to a feminine plural addressee. GKC 131-32 §48.i suggests emending חִרְדוּ (khirdu) to חֲרָדָה (kharadah) and understanding all five imperatives as feminine plural “aramaized” forms.

[9:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “for the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the scepter of the oppressor against him.” The singular pronouns are collective, referring to the people. The oppressed nation is compared to an ox weighed down by a heavy yoke and an animal that is prodded and beaten.

[9:4]  ⁴¹ sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.

[24:22]  ⁴² tn Heb “they will be gathered [in] a gathering [as] a prisoner in a cistern.” It is tempting to eliminate אֲסֵפָה (’asefah, “a gathering”) as dittographic or as a gloss, but sound repetition is one of the main characteristics of the style of this section of the chapter.

[24:22]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and after a multitude of days.”

[24:22]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “visited” (so KJV, ASV). This verse can mean to visit for good or for evil. The translation assumes the latter, based on v. 21a. However, BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד B.Niph.2 suggests the meaning “visit graciously” here, in which case one might translate “they will be released.”

[33:23]  ⁴⁵ tn The words “though at this time” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first half of the verse is addressed to Judah and contrasts the nation’s present weakness with its future prosperity. Judah is compared to a ship that is incapable of sailing.

[33:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “they do not fasten the base of their mast.” On כֵּן (ken, “base”) see BDB 487 s.v. III כֵּן and HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן.

[33:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Or perhaps, “flag.”

[33:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “then there will be divided up loot of plunder [in] abundance.”

[33:23]  ⁴⁹ sn Judah’s victory over its enemies will be so thorough there will be more than enough plunder for everyone, even slow-moving lame men who would normally get left out in the rush to gather the loot.

[58:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ⁵¹ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “crushed.”

[41:7]  ⁵³ tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”

[50:11]  ⁵⁵ tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).

[50:11]  ⁵⁶ tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.

[50:11]  ⁵⁷ tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.

[50:11]  ⁵⁸ tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).

[50:11]  ⁵⁹ sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.

[50:11]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[50:11]  ⁶¹ sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.