13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment 1 is near;
it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. 2
30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout 3
and intervene in power, 4
with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, 5
with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.
40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; 10
his military power establishes his rule. 11
Look, his reward is with him;
his prize goes before him. 12
42:13 The Lord emerges like a hero,
like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; 13
he shouts, yes, he yells,
he shows his enemies his power. 14
43:13 From this day forward I am he;
no one can deliver from my power; 15
I will act, and who can prevent it?”
63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, 16
who divided the water before them,
gaining for himself a lasting reputation, 17
63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal 18 and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion! 19
66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, 20
and you will be revived. 21
The Lord will reveal his power to his servants
and his anger to his enemies. 22
1 tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).
2 tn Heb “like destruction from the sovereign judge it comes.” The comparative preposition (כְּ, kÿ) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the destruction unleashed will have all the earmarks of divine judgment. One could paraphrase, “it comes as only destructive divine judgment can.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x.
sn The divine name used here is שַׁדַּי (shaddai, “Shaddai”). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the sovereign king/judge of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name is uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appears to Abram, introduces himself as El Shaddai, and announces his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeats these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing upon Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prays that his sons will be treated with mercy when they return to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (cf. 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, tells him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (cf. chapter 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob refers to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew
3 tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”
4 tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”
5 tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”
6 tn The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”
7 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
8 tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).
9 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”
10 tn Heb “comes as a strong one”; ASV “will come as a mighty one.” The preposition בְּ (bet) here carries the nuance “in the capacity of.” It indicates that the Lord possesses the quality expressed by the noun. See GKC 379 §119.i and HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ.
11 tn Heb “his arm rules for him” (so NIV, NRSV). The Lord’s “arm” symbolizes his military power (see Isa 51:9-10; 63:5).
12 tn As the Lord returns to Jerusalem as a victorious warrior, he brings with him the spoils of victory, called here his “reward” and “prize.” These terms might also be translated “wages” and “recompense.” Verse 11 indicates that his rescued people, likened to a flock of sheep, are his reward.
13 tn Heb “like a man of war he stirs up zeal” (NIV similar).
14 tn Or perhaps, “he triumphs over his enemies” (cf. NIV); NLT “will crush all his enemies.”
15 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “No one can oppose what I do.”
16 tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”
17 tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”
18 tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.
19 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.
20 tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”
21 tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”
22 tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”