1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city
has become a prostitute! 1
She was once a center of 2 justice,
fairness resided in her,
but now only murderers. 3
34:5 He says, 4 “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. 5
Look, it now descends on Edom, 6
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; 8
now I announce new events.
Before they begin to occur,
I reveal them to you.” 9
48:7 Now they come into being, 10 not in the past;
before today you did not hear about them,
so you could not say,
‘Yes, 11 I know about them.’
1 tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.
2 tn Heb “filled with.”
3 tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.
4 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.
5 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”
sn In v. 4 the “host of the heaven” refers to the heavenly luminaries (stars and planets, see, among others, Deut 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3, 5; 23:4-5; 2 Chr 33:3, 5) that populate the divine/heavenly assembly in mythological and prescientific Israelite thought (see Job 38:7; Isa 14:13). As in 24:21, they are viewed here as opposing God and being defeated in battle.
6 sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.
7 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”
8 tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”
9 tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).
10 tn Heb “are created” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “They are brand new.”
11 tn Heb “look”; KJV, NASB “Behold.”