Yesaya 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ¹  The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. ² 

In earlier times he ³  humiliated

the land of Zebulun,

and the land of Naphtali; ⁴ 

but now he brings honor ⁵ 

to the way of the sea,

the region beyond the Jordan,

and Galilee of the nations. ⁶ 

Yesaya 14:2

14:2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ⁷  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Yesaya 33:1

The Lord Will Restore Zion

33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, ⁸ 

you who have not been destroyed!

The deceitful one is as good as dead, ⁹ 

the one whom others have not deceived!

When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;

when you finish ¹⁰  deceiving, others will deceive you!

Yesaya 33:15

33:15 The one who lives ¹¹  uprightly ¹² 

and speaks honestly;

the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures

and rejects a bribe; ¹³ 

the one who does not plot violent crimes ¹⁴ 

and does not seek to harm others ¹⁵  –

Yesaya 34:16

34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! ¹⁶ 

Not one of these creatures will be missing, ¹⁷ 

none will lack a mate. ¹⁸ 

For the Lord has issued the decree, ¹⁹ 

and his own spirit gathers them. ²⁰ 

Yesaya 45:9

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ²¹ 

one who is like a mere ²²  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ²³ 

“What in the world ²⁴  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ²⁵ 

Yesaya 50:11

50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire

and who equip yourselves with ²⁶  flaming arrows, ²⁷ 

walk ²⁸  in the light ²⁹  of the fire you started

and among the flaming arrows you ignited! ³⁰ 

This is what you will receive from me: ³¹ 

you will lie down in a place of pain. ³² 

Yesaya 65:5

65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!

Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’

These people are like smoke in my nostrils,

like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Yesaya 65:25

65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; ³³ 

a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, ³⁴ 

and a snake’s food will be dirt. ³⁵ 

They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain,” ³⁶  says the Lord.

Yesaya 66:17

66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, ³⁷  those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice ³⁸  – they will all be destroyed together,” ³⁹  says the Lord.

[9:1]  ¹ sn In the Hebrew text (BHS) the chapter division comes one verse later than in the English Bible; 9:1 (8:23 HT). Thus 9:2-21 in the English Bible = 9:1-20 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[9:1]  ² tn The Hebrew text reads, “Indeed there is no gloom for the one to whom there was anxiety for her.” The feminine singular pronominal suffix “her” must refer to the land (cf. vv. 22a, 23b). So one could translate, “Indeed there will be no gloom for the land which was anxious.” In this case the statement introduces the positive message to follow. Some assume an emendation of לֹא (lo’, “no”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”) and of לָהּ (lah, “to her”) to לוֹ (lo, “to him”), yielding this literal reading: “indeed there is gloom for him, for the one to whom there was anxiety for him.” In this case the statement concludes the preceding description of judgment.

[9:1]  ³ tn The Lord must be understood as the subject of the two verbs in this verse.

[9:1]  ⁴ sn The statement probably alludes to the Assyrian conquest of Israel in ca. 734-733 b.c., when Tiglath-pileser III annexed much of Israel’s territory and reduced Samaria to a puppet state.

[9:1]  ⁵ tn Heb Just as in earlier times he humiliated…, [in] the latter times he has brought honor.” The main verbs in vv. 1b-4 are Hebrew perfects. The prophet takes his rhetorical stance in the future age of restoration and describes future events as if they have already occurred. To capture the dramatic effect of the original text, the translation uses the English present or present perfect.

[9:1]  ⁶ sn These three geographical designations may refer to provinces established by the Assyrians in 734-733 b.c. The “way of the sea” is the province of Dor, along the Mediterranean coast, the “region beyond the Jordan” is the province of Gilead in Transjordan, and “Galilee of the nations” (a title that alludes to how the territory had been overrun by foreigners) is the province of Megiddo located west of the Sea of Galilee. See Y. Aharoni, Land of the Bible, 374.

[14:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

[33:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”

[33:1]  sn In this context “the destroyer” appears to refer collectively to the hostile nations (vv. 3-4). Assyria would probably have been primary in the minds of the prophet and his audience.

[33:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.

[33:1]  ¹⁰ tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”

[33:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).

[33:15]  ¹² tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”

[33:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”

[33:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”

[33:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”

[34:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”

[34:16]  sn It is uncertain what particular scroll is referred to here. Perhaps the phrase simply refers to this prophecy and is an admonition to pay close attention to the details of the message.

[34:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”

[34:16]  ¹⁹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and a few medieval mss have פִּיהוּ (pihu, “his mouth [has commanded]”), while a few other medieval mss read פִּי יְהוָה (pi yÿhvah, “the mouth of the Lord [has commanded]”).

[34:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[45:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ²² tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ²³ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ²⁴ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”

[50:11]  ²⁶ tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).

[50:11]  ²⁷ tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.

[50:11]  ²⁸ tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.

[50:11]  ²⁹ tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).

[50:11]  ³⁰ sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.

[50:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[50:11]  ³² sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.

[65:25]  ³³ sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.

[65:25]  ³⁴ sn These words also appear in 11:7.

[65:25]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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.

[66:17]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.

[66:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”

[66:17]  ³⁹ tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”