14:29 Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines,
just because the club that beat you has been broken! 1
For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root,
and its fruit will be a darting adder. 2
24:13 This is what will happen throughout 3 the earth,
among the nations.
It will be like when they beat an olive tree,
and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest. 4
30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel, 5
with which the Lord will beat them, 6
will be accompanied by music from the 7 tambourine and harp,
and he will attack them with his weapons. 8
49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;
the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, 9
for one who has compassion on them will guide them;
he will lead them to springs of water.
1 sn The identity of this “club” (also referred to as a “serpent” in the next line) is uncertain. It may refer to an Assyrian king, or to Ahaz. For discussion see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:331-32. The viper/adder referred to in the second half of the verse is his successor.
2 tn Heb “flying burning one.” The designation “burning one” may allude to the serpent’s appearance or the effect of its poisonous bite. (See the note at 6:2.) The qualifier “flying” probably refers to the serpent’s quick, darting movements, though one might propose a homonym here, meaning “biting.” (See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:332, n. 18.) Some might think in terms of a mythological flying, fire breathing dragon (cf. NAB “a flying saraph”; CEV “a flying fiery dragon”), but this proposal does not make good sense in 30:6, where the phrase “flying burning one” appears again in a list of desert animals.
3 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
4 sn The judgment will severely reduce the earth’s population. See v. 6.
5 tc The Hebrew text has “every blow from a founded [i.e., “appointed”?] cudgel.” The translation above, with support from a few medieval Hebrew
6 tn Heb “which the Lord lays on him.”
7 tn Heb “will be with” (KJV similar).
8 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and with battles of brandishing [weapons?] he will fight against him.” Some prefer to emend וּבְמִלְחֲמוֹת (uvÿmilkhamot, “and with battles of”) to וּבִמְחֹלוֹת (uvimkholot, “and with dancing”). Note the immediately preceding references to musical instruments.
9 tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”