1:1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem 1 that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah reigned over Judah. 2
21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: 3
Like strong winds blowing in the south, 4
one invades from the desert,
from a land that is feared.
21:2 I have received a distressing message: 5
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!” 6
21:11 Here is a message about Dumah: 7
Someone calls to me from Seir, 8
“Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?” 9
22:1 Here is a message about the Valley of Vision: 10
What is the reason 11
that all of you go up to the rooftops?
28:9 Who is the Lord 12 trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining a message? 13
Those just weaned from milk!
Those just taken from their mother’s breast! 14
36:13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, 15 “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria.
37:21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, 18
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn Heb “The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
sn Isaiah’s prophetic career probably began in the final year of Uzziah’s reign (ca. 740
3 sn The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “desert” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like a desolate desert.
4 tn Or “in the Negev” (NASB).
5 tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”
6 sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
7 tn The noun דּוּמָה (dumah) means “silence,” but here it is a proper name, probably referring to a site in northern Arabia or to the nation of Edom. See BDB 189 s.v. II דּוּמָה. If Dumah was an area in northern Arabia, it would be of interest to the Edomites because of its strategic position on trade routes which they used. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:398.
8 sn Seir is another name for Edom. See BDB 973 s.v. שֵׂעִיר.
9 sn The “night” probably here symbolizes distress and difficult times. See BDB 539 s.v. לַיְלָה.
10 sn The following message pertains to Jerusalem. The significance of referring to the city as the Valley of Vision is uncertain. Perhaps the Hinnom Valley is in view, but why it is associated with a prophetic revelatory “vision” is not entirely clear. Maybe the Hinnom Valley is called this because the destruction that will take place there is the focal point of this prophetic message (see v. 5).
11 tn Heb “What to you, then?”
12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “Who is he teaching knowledge? For whom is he explaining a message?” The translation assumes that the Lord is the subject of the verbs “teaching” and “explaining,” and that the prophet is asking the questions. See v. 12. According to some vv. 9-10 record the people’s sarcastic response to the Lord’s message through Isaiah.
14 tn Heb “from the breasts.” The words “their mother’s” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The translation assumes that this is the prophet’s answer to the questions asked in the first half of the verse. The Lord is trying to instruct people who are “infants” morally and ethically.
15 tn The Hebrew text includes “and he said.”
16 tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”
17 tn Heb “Hear all the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
18 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:20 reads, “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense: “because.”