Yesaya 37:14

37:14 Hezekiah took the letter ¹  from the messengers and read it. ²  Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.

Yesaya 39:1

Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah

39:1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered.

Yesaya 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ³ 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ⁴ 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ⁵ 

Yesaya 29:12

29:12 Or when they hand the scroll to one who can’t read ⁶  and say, “Read this,” he says, “I can’t read.” ⁷ 

Yesaya 8:1

A Sign-Child is Born

8:1 The Lord told me, “Take a large tablet ⁸  and inscribe these words ⁹  on it with an ordinary stylus: ¹⁰  ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’ ¹¹ 

Yesaya 10:1

10:1 Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, ¹² 

those who are always instituting unfair regulations, ¹³ 

Yesaya 10:19

10:19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,

a child will be able to count them. ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 38:9

Hezekiah’s Song of Thanks

38:9 This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:

Yesaya 65:6

65:6 Look, I have decreed: ¹⁵ 

I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;

I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 4:3

4:3 Those remaining in Zion, ¹⁷  those left in Jerusalem, ¹⁸ 

will be called “holy,” ¹⁹ 

all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. ²⁰ 

Yesaya 30:8

30:8 Now go, write it ²¹  down on a tablet in their presence, ²² 

inscribe it on a scroll,

so that it might be preserved for a future time

as an enduring witness. ²³ 

Yesaya 34:4

34:4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, ²⁴ 

the sky will roll up like a scroll;

all its stars will wither,

like a leaf withers and falls from a vine

or a fig withers and falls from a tree. ²⁵ 

Yesaya 37:18

37:18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations ²⁶  and their lands.

Yesaya 29:11

29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation ²⁷  is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read ²⁸  and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.”

Yesaya 8:2

8:2 Then I will summon ²⁹  as my reliable witnesses Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”

Yesaya 36:3

36:3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him.

Yesaya 36:22

36:22 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief ³⁰  and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.

Yesaya 37:9-10

37:9 The king ³¹  heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia ³²  was marching out to fight him. ³³  He again sent ³⁴  messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 37:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

Yesaya 37:16

37:16 “O Lord who commands armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! ³⁵  You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky ³⁶  and the earth.

Yesaya 44:5

44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’

and another will use ³⁷  the name ‘Jacob.’

One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

and use the name ‘Israel.’” ³⁸ 

[37:14]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has the plural, “letters.” The final mem (ם) may be dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular. If so, one still has to deal with the yod that is part of the plural ending. J. N. Oswalt refers to various commentators who have suggested ways to understand the plural form (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:652).

[37:14]  ² tn In the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:14 the verb has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”).

[50:1]  ³ sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ⁴ sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ⁵ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.

[29:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and if the scroll is handed to one who does not know a scroll.”

[29:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “I do not know a scroll.”

[8:1]  ⁸ sn Probably made of metal, wood, or leather. See HALOT 193 s.v. גִּלָּיוֹן.

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “write” (so KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV).

[8:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with the stylus of a man.” The significance of the qualifying genitive “a man” is uncertain. For various interpretations see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:219, n. 1.

[8:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “quickly, [the] plunder; it hurries, [the] loot.” The first word (מַהֵר, maher) is either a Piel imperative (“hurry [to]”) or infinitive (“hurrying,” or “quickly”). The third word (חָשׁ, khash) is either a third masculine singular perfect or a masculine singular participle, in either case from the root חוּשׁ (khush, “hurry”). Perhaps it is best to translate, “One hastens to the plunder, one hurries to the loot.” In this case מַהֵר is understood as an infinitive functioning as a verb, the subject of חוּשׁ is taken as indefinite, and the two nouns are understood as adverbial accusatives. As we discover in v. 3, this is the name of the son to be born to Isaiah through the prophetess.

[10:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Woe [to] those who decree evil decrees.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[10:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “[to] the writers who write out harm.” The participle and verb are in the Piel, suggesting repetitive action.

[10:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the rest of the trees of his forest will be counted, and a child will record them.”

[65:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”

[65:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”

[4:3]  ¹⁷ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[4:3]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”

[4:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all who are written down for life in Jerusalem.” A city register is envisioned; everyone whose name appears on the roll will be spared. This group comprises the remnant of the city referred to earlier in the verse.

[30:8]  ²¹ tn The referent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix is uncertain. Perhaps it refers to the preceding message, which accuses the people of rejecting the Lord’s help in favor of an alliance with Egypt.

[30:8]  ²² tn Heb “with them.” On the use of the preposition here, see BDB 86 s.v. II אֵת.

[30:8]  ²³ sn Recording the message will enable the prophet to use it in the future as evidence that God warned his people of impending judgment and clearly spelled out the nation’s guilt. An official record of the message will also serve as proof of the prophet’s authority as God’s spokesman.

[34:4]  ²⁴ tc Heb “and all the host of heaven will rot.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a inserts “and the valleys will be split open,” but this reading may be influenced by Mic 1:4. On the other hand, the statement, if original, could have been omitted by homoioarcton, a scribe’s eye jumping from the conjunction prefixed to “the valleys” to the conjunction prefixed to the verb “rot.”

[34:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “like the withering of a leaf from a vine, and like the withering from a fig tree.”

[37:18]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text here has “all the lands,” but the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:17 has “the nations.”

[29:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “vision” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[29:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “one who knows a/the scroll.”

[8:2]  ²⁹ tn The form in the text is a cohortative with prefixed vav (ו), suggesting that the Lord is announcing what he will do. Some prefer to change the verb to an imperative, “and summon as witnesses,” a reading that finds support from the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a. Another option is to point the prefixed conjunction as a vav consecutive and translate, “So I summoned as witnesses.” In this case Isaiah is recalling his response to the Lord’s commission. In any case, the reference to witnesses suggests that the name and the child who bears it will function as signs.

[36:22]  ³⁰ tn Heb “with their clothes torn”; the words “in grief” have been supplied in the translation to indicate that this was done as a sign of grief and mourning.

[37:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[37:9]  ³² tn Heb “Cush” (so NASB); NIV, NCV “the Cushite king of Egypt.”

[37:9]  ³³ tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘He has come out to fight with you.’”

[37:9]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew text has, “and he heard and he sent,” but the parallel in 2 Kgs 19:9 has וַיָּשָׁב וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayyashav vayyishlakh, “and he returned and he sent”), i.e., “he again sent.”

[37:16]  ³⁵ sn Cherubim (singular “cherub”) refers to the images of winged angelic creatures that were above the ark of the covenant.

[37:16]  ³⁶ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[44:5]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”

[44:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”