Yesaya 6:13

6:13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, ¹  like one of the large sacred trees ²  or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. ³  That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” ⁴ 

Yesaya 28:4

28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,

situated at the head of a rich valley,

will be like an early fig before harvest –

as soon as someone notices it,

he grabs it and swallows it. ⁵ 

Yesaya 29:11

29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation ⁶  is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read ⁷  and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.”

Yesaya 30:14

30:14 It shatters in pieces like a clay jar,

so shattered to bits that none of it can be salvaged. ⁸ 

Among its fragments one cannot find a shard large enough ⁹ 

to scoop a hot coal from a fire ¹⁰ 

or to skim off water from a cistern.” ¹¹ 

Yesaya 65:25

65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; ¹² 

a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, ¹³ 

and a snake’s food will be dirt. ¹⁴ 

They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain,” ¹⁵  says the Lord.

Yesaya 66:14

66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, ¹⁶ 

and you will be revived. ¹⁷ 

The Lord will reveal his power to his servants

and his anger to his enemies. ¹⁸ 

[6:13]  ¹ tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”

[6:13]  ² tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).

[6:13]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.

[6:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.

[28:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”

[29:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “vision” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[29:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “one who knows a/the scroll.”

[30:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”

[30:14]  ⁹ tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

[30:14]  ¹¹ tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.

[65:25]  ¹² sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.

[65:25]  ¹³ sn These words also appear in 11:7.

[65:25]  ¹⁴ sn Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14, the primary allusion is to 11:8, where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)

[65:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.

[65:25]  sn As in 11:1-9 the prophet anticipates a time when the categories predator-prey no longer exist. See the note at the end of 11:8.

[66:14]  ¹⁶ tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”

[66:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”

[66:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”