Yesaya 49:24

49:24 Can spoils be taken from a warrior,

or captives be rescued from a conqueror? ¹ 

Yesaya 1:20

1:20 But if you refuse and rebel,

you will be devoured ²  by the sword.”

Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. ³ 

Yesaya 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ⁴ 

Is my hand too weak ⁵  to deliver ⁶  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁷  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ⁸ 

Yesaya 62:8

62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,

by his strong arm: ⁹ 

“I will never again give your grain

to your enemies as food,

and foreigners will not drink your wine,

which you worked hard to produce.

[49:24]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text has צָדִיק (tsadiq, “a righteous [one]”), but this makes no sense in the parallelism. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads correctly עריץ (“violent [one], tyrant”; see v. 25).

[1:20]  ² sn The wordplay in the Hebrew draws attention to the options. The people can obey, in which case they will “eat” v. 19 (תֹּאכֵלוּ [to’khelu], Qal active participle of אָכַל) God’s blessing, or they can disobey, in which case they will be devoured (Heb “eaten,” תְּאֻכְּלוּ, [tÿ’ukkÿlu], Qal passive/Pual of אָכַל) by God’s judgment.

[1:20]  ³ tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The introductory כִּי (ki) may be asseverative (as reflected in the translation) or causal/explanatory, explaining why the option chosen by the people will become reality (it is guaranteed by the divine word).

[50:2]  ⁴ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁶ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[62:8]  ⁹ tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.