12:5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things,
let this be known 1 throughout the earth!
14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;
my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” 2
23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre, 3
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are the dignitaries 4 of the earth?
24:5 The earth is defiled by 5 its inhabitants, 6
for they have violated laws,
disregarded the regulation, 7
and broken the permanent treaty. 8
24:21 At that time 9 the Lord will punish 10
the heavenly forces in the heavens 11
and the earthly kings on the earth.
40:23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
48:13 Yes, my hand founded the earth;
my right hand spread out the sky.
I summon them;
they stand together.
52:10 The Lord reveals 12 his royal power 13
in the sight of all the nations;
the entire 14 earth sees
our God deliver. 15
62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, 16
until he makes Jerusalem the pride 17 of the earth.
1 tc The translation follows the marginal reading (Qere), which is a Hophal participle from יָדַע (yada’), understood here in a gerundive sense.
2 tn Heb “and this is the hand that is outstretched over all the nations.”
3 tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.
4 tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”
5 tn Heb “beneath”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “under”; NAB “because of.”
6 sn Isa 26:21 suggests that the earth’s inhabitants defiled the earth by shedding the blood of their fellow human beings. See also Num 35:33-34, which assumes that bloodshed defiles a land.
7 tn Heb “moved past [the?] regulation.”
8 tn Or “everlasting covenant” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the ancient covenant”; CEV “their agreement that was to last forever.”
sn For a lengthy discussion of the identity of this covenant/treaty, see R. Chisholm, “The ‘Everlasting Covenant’ and the ‘City of Chaos’: Intentional Ambiguity and Irony in Isaiah 24,” CTR 6 (1993): 237-53. In this context, where judgment comes upon both the pagan nations and God’s covenant community, the phrase “permanent treaty” is intentionally ambiguous. For the nations this treaty is the Noahic mandate of Gen 9:1-7 with its specific stipulations and central regulation (Gen 9:7). By shedding blood, the warlike nations violated this treaty, which promotes population growth and prohibits murder. For Israel, which was also guilty of bloodshed (see Isa 1:15, 21; 4:4), this “permanent treaty” would refer more specifically to the Mosaic Law and its regulations prohibiting murder (Exod 20:13; Num 35:6-34), which are an extension of the Noahic mandate.
9 tn Or “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
10 tn Heb “visit [in judgment].”
11 tn Heb “the host of the height in the height.” The “host of the height/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).
12 tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”
13 tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.
14 tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.
15 tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.
16 tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.
17 tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”