Yesaya 9:3

9:3 You ¹  have enlarged the nation;

you give them great joy. ² 

They rejoice in your presence

as harvesters rejoice;

as warriors celebrate ³  when they divide up the plunder.

Yesaya 9:8

God’s Judgment Intensifies

9:8 ⁴ The sovereign master ⁵  decreed judgment ⁶  on Jacob,

and it fell on Israel. ⁷ 

Yesaya 11:8

11:8 A baby ⁸  will play

over the hole of a snake; ⁹ 

over the nest ¹⁰  of a serpent

an infant ¹¹  will put his hand. ¹² 

Yesaya 11:12

11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;

he will gather Israel’s dispersed people ¹³ 

and assemble Judah’s scattered people

from the four corners of the earth.

Yesaya 14:21

14:21 Prepare to execute ¹⁴  his sons

for the sins their ancestors have committed. ¹⁵ 

They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,

or fill the surface of the world with cities.” ¹⁶ 

Yesaya 14:27

14:27 Indeed, ¹⁷  the Lord who commands armies has a plan,

and who can possibly frustrate it?

His hand is ready to strike,

and who can possibly stop it? ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 22:18

22:18 He will wind you up tightly into a ball

and throw you into a wide, open land. ¹⁹ 

There you will die,

and there with you will be your impressive chariots, ²⁰ 

which bring disgrace to the house of your master. ²¹ 

Yesaya 32:15

32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. ²² 

Then the desert will become an orchard

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ²³ 

Yesaya 33:18

33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, ²⁴ 

and you will ask yourselves, ²⁵  “Where is the scribe?

Where is the one who weighs the money?

Where is the one who counts the towers?” ²⁶ 

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 ²⁷  and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.

Yesaya 37:7

37:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; ²⁸  he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down ²⁹  with a sword in his own land.”’”

Yesaya 37:32

37:32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;

survivors will come out of Mount Zion.

The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies ³⁰  will accomplish this.

Yesaya 38:5

38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor ³¹  David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life,

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 44:22

44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,

the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ³² 

Come back to me, for I protect ³³  you.”

Yesaya 49:20

49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us, ³⁴ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ³⁵ 

Yesaya 56:8

56:8 The sovereign Lord says this,

the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:

“I will still gather them up.” ³⁶ 

Yesaya 60:10

60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls;

their kings will serve you.

Even though I struck you down in my anger,

I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. ³⁷ 

[9:3]  ¹ sn The Lord is addressed directly in vv. 3-4.

[9:3]  ² tc The Hebrew consonantal text reads “You multiply the nation, you do not make great the joy.” The particle לֹא (lo’, “not”) is obviously incorrect; the marginal reading has לוֹ (lo, “to him”). In this case, one should translate, “You multiply the nation, you increase his (i.e., their) joy.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one emends הַגּוֹי לוֹ (hagoy lo, “the nation, to him”) to הַגִּילָה (haggilah, “the joy,” a noun attested in Isa 65:18), which corresponds to הַשִּׂמְחָה (hasimkhah, “the joy”) later in the verse (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:386). As attractive as this reading is, it has not textual evidence supporting it. The MT reading (accepting the marginal reading “to him” for the negative particle “not”) affirms that Yahweh caused the nation to grow in population and increased their joy.

[9:3]  ³ tn Heb “as they are happy.” The word “warriors” is supplied in the translation to clarify the word picture. This last simile comes close to reality, for vv. 4-5 indicate that the people have won a great military victory over their oppressors.

[9:8]  ⁴ sn The following speech (9:8-10:4) assumes that God has already sent judgment (see v. 9), but it also announces that further judgment is around the corner (10:1-4). The speech seems to describe a series of past judgments on the northern kingdom which is ready to intensify further in the devastation announced in 10:1-4. It may have been written prior to the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom in 734-733 b.c., or sometime between that invasion and the downfall of Samaria in 722 b.c. The structure of the speech displays four panels, each of which ends with the refrain, “Through all this, his anger did not subside; his hand remained outstretched” (9:12b; 17b; 21b; 10:4b): Panel I: (A) Description of past judgment (9:8); (B) Description of the people’s attitude toward past judgment (9:9-10); (C) Description of past judgment (9:11-12a); (D) Refrain (9:12b); Panel II: (A) Description of the people’s attitude toward past judgment (9:13); (B) Description of past judgment (9:14-17a); (C) Refrain (9:17b); Panel III: (A) Description of past judgment (9:18-21a); (B) Refrain (9:21b); Panel IV: (A) Woe oracle announcing future judgment (10:1-4a); (B) Refrain (10:4b).

[9:8]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 17 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “sent a word” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB “sends a message.”

[9:8]  ⁷ tn The present translation assumes that this verse refers to judgment that had already fallen. Both verbs (perfects) are taken as indicating simple past; the vav (ו) on the second verb is understood as a simple vav conjunctive. Another option is to understand the verse as describing a future judgment (see 10:1-4). In this case the first verb is a perfect of certitude; the vav on the second verb is a vav consecutive.

[11:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “one sucking,” i.e., still being nursed by his mother.

[11:8]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps, “cobra” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV); KJV, ASV, NRSV “asp.”

[11:8]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text has the otherwise unattested מְאוּרַת (mÿ’urat, “place of light”), i.e., opening of a hole. Some prefer to emend to מְעָרַת (mÿ’arat, “cave, den”).

[11:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “one who is weaned” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[11:8]  ¹² sn The transformation of the animal kingdom depicted here typifies what will occur in human society under the just rule of the ideal king (see vv. 3-5). The categories “predator-prey” (i.e., oppressor-oppressed) will no longer exist.

[11:12]  ¹³ tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.

[14:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”

[14:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”

[14:21]  ¹⁶ sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.

[14:27]  ¹⁷ tn Or “For” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[14:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “His hand is outstretched and who will turn it back?”

[22:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he will tightly [or “surely”] wind you [with] winding like a ball, to a land broad of hands [i.e., “sides”].”

[22:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and there the chariots of your splendor.”

[22:18]  ²¹ sn Apparently the reference to chariots alludes to Shebna’s excessive pride, which in turn brings disgrace to the royal family.

[32:15]  ²² tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (’arah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.

[32:15]  ²³ sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.

[33:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”

[33:18]  ²⁵ tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[33:18]  ²⁶ sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.

[36:22]  ²⁷ 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.

[37:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.

[37:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”

[37:32]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to protect and restore them.

[38:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “father” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).

[44:22]  ³² tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

[44:22]  ³³ tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

[49:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”

[56:8]  ³⁶ tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition -לְ (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (’alayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”

[60:10]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in my favor I will have compassion on you.”