25:10 For the Lord’s power will make this mountain secure. 1
Moab will be trampled down where it stands, 2
as a heap of straw is trampled down in 3 a manure pile.
40:24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? 4
Who 5 officially commissions him for service? 6
He hands nations over to him, 7
and enables him to subdue 8 kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow. 9
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 10 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 11
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 12
47:14 Look, they are like straw,
which the fire burns up;
they cannot rescue themselves
from the heat 13 of the flames.
There are no coals to warm them,
no firelight to enjoy. 14
65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; 15
a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, 16
and a snake’s food will be dirt. 17
They will no longer injure or destroy
on my entire royal mountain,” 18 says the Lord.
5:24 Therefore, as flaming fire 19 devours straw,
and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,
so their root will rot,
and their flower will blow away like dust. 20
For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies,
they have spurned the commands 21 of the Holy One of Israel. 22
1 tn Heb “for the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain”; TEV “will protect Mount Zion”; NCV “will protect (rest on NLT) Jerusalem.”
2 tn Heb “under him,” i.e., “in his place.”
3 tc The marginal reading (Qere) is בְּמוֹ (bÿmo, “in”). The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּמִי (bÿmi, “in the water of”).
4 sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).
5 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.
6 tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”
7 tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”
8 tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).
9 sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.
10 tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”
11 tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.
12 sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.
13 tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.
14 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.
15 sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.
16 sn These words also appear in 11:7.
17 sn Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14, the primary allusion is to 11:8, where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)
18 tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.
sn As in 11:1-9 the prophet anticipates a time when the categories predator-prey no longer exist. See the note at the end of 11:8.
19 tn Heb “a tongue of fire” (so NASB), referring to a tongue-shaped flame.
20 sn They are compared to a flowering plant that withers quickly in a hot, arid climate.
21 tn Heb “the word.”
22 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.