Isaiah 1:25

1:25 I will attack you;

I will purify your metal with flux.

I will remove all your slag.

Isaiah 26:8

26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold,

O Lord, we wait for you.

We desire your fame and reputation to grow.

Isaiah 41:12

41:12 When you will look for your opponents, you will not find them;

your enemies will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

Isaiah 43:25

43:25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;

your sins I do not remember.

Isaiah 57:12

57:12 I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds,

but they will not help you.

Isaiah 63:18

63:18 For a short time your special nation possessed a land, 10 

but then our adversaries knocked down 11  your holy sanctuary.


tn Heb “turn my hand against you.” The second person pronouns in vv. 25-26 are feminine singular. Personified Jerusalem is addressed. The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack,” in Ps 81:15 HT (81:14 ET); Ezek 38:12; Am 1:8; Zech 13:7. In Jer 6:9 it is used of gleaning grapes.

tn Heb “I will purify your dross as [with] flux.” “Flux” refers here to minerals added to the metals in a furnace to prevent oxides from forming. For this interpretation of II בֹּר (bor), see HALOT 153 s.v. II בֹּר and 750 s.v. סִיג.

sn The metaphor comes from metallurgy; slag is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.

tn The Hebrew text has, “yes, the way of your judgments.” The translation assumes that “way” is related to the verb “we wait” as an adverbial accusative (“in the way of your judgments we wait”). מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ (mishpatekha, “your judgments”) could refer to the Lord’s commandments, in which case one might translate, “as we obey your commands.” However, in verse 9 the same form refers to divine acts of judgment on evildoers.

tn Heb “your name and your remembrance [is] the desire of [our?] being.”

tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”

tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”

tn Heb “I, I will declare your righteousness and your deeds.”

tn Or “holy” (ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

10 tn Heb “for a short time they had a possession, the people of your holiness.”

11 tn Heb “your adversaries trampled on.”