Isaiah 3:5

3:5 The people will treat each other harshly;

men will oppose each other;

neighbors will fight. ¹ 

Youths will proudly defy the elderly

and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ² 

Isaiah 7:13

7:13 So Isaiah replied, ³  “Pay attention, ⁴  family ⁵  of David. ⁶  Do you consider it too insignificant to try the patience of men? Is that why you are also trying the patience of my God?

Isaiah 23:4

23:4 Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea ⁷  says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.” ⁸ 

Isaiah 31:8

31:8 Assyria will fall by a sword, but not one human-made; ⁹ 

a sword not made by humankind will destroy them. ¹⁰ 

They will run away from this sword ¹¹ 

and their young men will be forced to do hard labor.

Isaiah 39:3

39:3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.”

Isaiah 51:7

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ¹² 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

Isaiah 59:10

59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,

we grope like those who cannot see; ¹³ 

we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.

Though others are strong, we are like dead men. ¹⁴ 

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¹ tn Heb “man against man, and a man against his neighbor.”

² tn Heb “and those lightly esteemed those who are respected.” The verb רָהַב (rahav) does double duty in the parallelism.

³ tn Heb “and he said.” The subject is unexpressed, but the reference to “my God” at the end of the verse indicates the prophet is speaking.

⁴ tn The verb is second plural in form, because the prophet addresses the whole family of David. He continues to use the plural in v. 14 (with one exception, see the notes on that verse), but then switches back to the second singular (addressing Ahaz specifically) in vv. 16-17.

⁵ tn Heb “house.” See the note at v. 2.

⁶ sn The address to the “house of David” is designed to remind Ahaz and his royal court of the protection promised to them through the Davidic covenant. The king’s refusal to claim God’s promise magnifies his lack of faith.

⁷ tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.

⁸ tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

sn The sea is personified here as a lamenting childless woman. The foreboding language anticipates the following announcement of Tyre’s demise, viewed here as a child of the sea, as it were.

⁹ tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”

¹¹ tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”

¹² tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

¹³ tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”

¹⁴ tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”