13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment 1 is coming;
it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, 2
destroying 3 the earth 4
and annihilating its sinners.
30:27 Look, the name 5 of the Lord comes from a distant place
in raging anger and awesome splendor. 6
He speaks angrily
and his word is like destructive fire. 7
66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,
his chariots come like a windstorm, 8
to reveal his raging anger,
his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. 9
1 tn Heb “the day of the Lord.”
2 tn Heb “[with] cruelty, and fury, and rage of anger.” Three synonyms for “anger” are piled up at the end of the line to emphasize the extraordinary degree of divine anger that will be exhibited in this judgment.
3 tn Heb “making desolate.”
4 tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT).
5 sn The “name” of the Lord sometimes stands by metonymy for the Lord himself, see Exod 23:21; Lev 24:11; Pss 54:1 (54:3 HT); 124:8. In Isa 30:27 the point is that he reveals that aspect of his character which his name suggests – he comes as Yahweh (“he is present”), the ever present helper of his people who annihilates their enemies and delivers them. The name “Yahweh” originated in a context where God assured a fearful Moses that he would be with him as he confronted Pharaoh and delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. See Exod 3.
6 tn Heb “his anger burns, and heaviness of elevation.” The meaning of the phrase “heaviness of elevation” is unclear, for מַשָּׂאָה (masa’ah, “elevation”) occurs only here. Some understand the term as referring to a cloud (elevated above the earth’s surface), in which case one might translate, “and in heavy clouds” (cf. NAB “with lowering clouds”). Others relate the noun to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”) and interpret it as a reference to judgment. In this case one might translate, “and with severe judgment.” The present translation assumes that the noun refers to his glory and that “heaviness” emphasizes its degree.
7 tn Heb “his lips are full of anger, and his tongue is like consuming fire.” The Lord’s lips and tongue are used metonymically for his word (or perhaps his battle cry; see v. 31).
8 sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.
9 tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”