Isaiah 25:4-5

25:4 For you are a protector for the poor,

a protector for the needy in their distress,

a shelter from the rainstorm,

a shade from the heat.

Though the breath of tyrants ¹  is like a winter rainstorm, ² 

25:5 like heat ³  in a dry land,

you humble the boasting foreigners. ⁴ 

Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside, ⁵ 

so he causes the song of tyrants to cease. ⁶ 

[25:4]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “the violent”; NIV, NRSV “the ruthless.”

[25:4]  ² tc The Hebrew text has, “like a rainstorm of a wall,” which might be interpreted to mean, “like a rainstorm battering against a wall.” The translation assumes an emendation of קִיר (qir, “wall”) to קֹר (qor, “cold, winter”; cf. Gen 8:22). See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:457, n. 6, for discussion.

[25:5]  ³ tn Or “drought” (TEV).

[25:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “the tumult of foreigners.”

[25:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “[like] heat in the shadow of a cloud.”

[25:5]  ⁶ tn The translation assumes that the verb יַעֲנֶה (ya’aneh) is a Hiphil imperfect from עָנָה (’anah, “be afflicted, humiliated”). In this context with “song” as object it means to “quiet” (see HALOT 853-54 s.v. II ענה). Some prefer to emend the form to the second person singular, so that it will agree with the second person verb earlier in the verse. BDB 776 s.v. III עָנָה Qal.1 understands the form as Qal, with “song” as subject, in which case one might translate “the song of tyrants will be silent.” An emendation of the form to a Niphal (יֵעָנֶה, ye’aneh) would yield the same translation.