Yesaya 3:16

Washing Away Impurity

3:16 The Lord says,

“The women ¹  of Zion are proud.

They walk with their heads high ² 

and flirt with their eyes.

They skip along ³ 

and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ⁴ 

Yesaya 5:13

5:13 Therefore my ⁵  people will be deported ⁶ 

because of their lack of understanding.

Their ⁷  leaders will have nothing to eat, ⁸ 

their ⁹  masses will have nothing to drink. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 8:21

8:21 They will pass through the land ¹¹  destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry, ¹²  and they will curse their king and their God ¹³  as they look upward.

Yesaya 10:4

10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,

or to fall among those who have been killed. ¹⁴ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ¹⁵ 

Yesaya 31:8

31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made; ¹⁶ 

a sword not made by humankind will destroy them. ¹⁷ 

They will run away from this sword ¹⁸ 

and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.

Yesaya 53:8

53:8 He was led away after an unjust trial ¹⁹  –

but who even cared? ²⁰ 

Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; ²¹ 

because of the rebellion of his own ²²  people he was wounded.

Yesaya 63:14

63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, ²³ 

so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.

In this way ²⁴  you guided your people,

gaining for yourself an honored reputation. ²⁵ 

[3:16]  ¹ tn Heb “daughters” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[3:16]  ² tn Heb “with an outstretched neck.” They proudly hold their heads high so that others can see the jewelry around their necks.

[3:16]  ³ tn Heb “walking and skipping, they walk.”

[3:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “and with their feet they jingle.”

[5:13]  ⁵ sn It is not certain if the prophet or the Lord is speaking at this point.

[5:13]  ⁶ tn The suffixed (perfect) form of the verb is used; in this way the coming event is described for rhetorical effect as occurring or as already completed.

[5:13]  ⁷ tn The third masculine singular suffix refers back to “my people.”

[5:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Their glory will be men of hunger.” כָּבוֹד (kavod, “glory”) is in opposition to הָמוֹן (hamon, “masses”) and refers here to the rich and prominent members of the nation. Some prefer to repoint מְתֵי (mÿtey, “men of”) as מִתֵי (mitey, “dead ones of”).

[5:13]  ⁹ tn The third masculine singular suffix refers back to “my people.”

[5:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and their masses will be parched [by] thirst.”

[8:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will pass through it.” The subject of the collective singular verb is the nation. (See the preceding note.) The immediately preceding context supplies no antecedent for “it” (a third feminine singular suffix in the Hebrew text); the suffix may refer to the land, which would be a reasonable referent with a verb of motion. Note also that אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) does appear at the beginning of the next verse.

[8:21]  ¹² tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[8:21]  ¹³ tn Or “gods” (NAB, NRSV, CEV).

[10:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.

[10:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”

[10:4]  sn See the note at 9:12.

[31:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”

[31:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”

[31:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”

[53:8]  ¹⁹ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The present translation assumes that מִן (min) here has an instrumental sense (“by, through”) and understands עֹצֶר וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט (’otser umimmishpat, “coercion and legal decision”) as a hendiadys meaning “coercive legal decision,” thus “an unjust trial.” Other interpretive options include: (1) “without [for this sense of מִן, see BDB 578 s.v. 1.b] hindrance and proper judicial process,” i.e., “unfairly and with no one to defend him,” (2) “from [in the sense of “after,” see BDB 581 s.v. 4.b] arrest and judgment.”

[53:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and his generation, who considers?” (NASB similar). Some understand “his generation” as a reference to descendants. In this case the question would suggest that he will have none. However, אֶת (’et) may be taken here as specifying a new subject (see BDB 85 s.v. I אֵת 3). If “his generation” refers to the servant’s contemporary generation, one may then translate, “As for his contemporary generation, who took note?” The point would be that few were concerned about the harsh treatment he received.

[53:8]  ²¹ sn The “land of the living” is an idiom for the sphere where people live, in contrast to the underworld realm of the dead. See, for example, Ezek 32:23-27.

[53:8]  ²² tn The Hebrew text reads “my people,” a reading followed by most English versions, but this is problematic in a context where the first person plural predominates, and where God does not appear to speak again until v. 11b. Therefore, it is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a עמו (“his people”). In this case, the group speaking in these verses is identified as the servant’s people (compare פְּשָׁעֵנוּ [pÿsha’enu, “our rebellious deeds”] in v. 5 with פֶּשַׁע עַמִּי [pesha’ ’ammi, “the rebellion of his people”] in v. 8).

[63:14]  ²³ tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[63:14]  ²⁴ tn Or “so” (KJV, ASV), or “thus” (NAB, NRSV).

[63:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “making for yourself a majestic name.”