3:9 The look on their faces 1 testifies to their guilt; 2
like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. 3
Too bad for them! 4
For they bring disaster on themselves.
6:5 I said, “Too bad for me! I am destroyed, 5 for my lips are contaminated by sin, 6 and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. 7 My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies.” 8
10:27 At that time 13
the Lord will remove their burden from your shoulders, 14
and their yoke from your neck;
the yoke will be taken off because your neck will be too large. 15
23:1 Here is a message about Tyre:
Wail, you large ships, 16
for the port is too devastated to enter! 17
From the land of Cyprus 18 this news is announced to them.
31:2 Yet he too is wise 19 and he will bring disaster;
he does not retract his decree. 20
He will attack the wicked nation, 21
and the nation that helps 22 those who commit sin. 23
49:19 Yes, your land lies in ruins;
it is desolate and devastated. 24
But now you will be too small to hold your residents,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement
will say within your hearing,
‘This place is too cramped for us, 25
make room for us so we can live here.’ 26
59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, 27
and our sins testify against us;
indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;
we know our sins all too well. 28
63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. 29
The messenger sent from his very presence 30 delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected 31 them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 32
1 sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.
2 tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”
3 tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”
4 tn Heb “woe to their soul.”
5 tn Isaiah uses the suffixed (perfect) form of the verb for rhetorical purposes. In this way his destruction is described as occurring or as already completed. Rather than understanding the verb as derived from דָּמַה (damah, “be destroyed”), some take it from a proposed homonymic root דמה, which would mean “be silent.” In this case, one might translate, “I must be silent.”
6 tn Heb “a man unclean of lips am I.” Isaiah is not qualified to praise the king. His lips (the instruments of praise) are “unclean” because he has been contaminated by sin.
7 tn Heb “and among a nation unclean of lips I live.”
8 tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.
9 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.
10 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.
11 tn Heb “house.” See the note at v. 2.
12 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.
13 tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
14 tn Heb “he [i.e., the Lord] will remove his [i.e, Assyria’s] burden from upon your shoulder.”
15 tc The meaning of this line is uncertain. The Hebrew text reads literally, “and the yoke will be destroyed (or perhaps, “pulled down”) because of fatness.” Perhaps this is a bizarre picture of an ox growing so fat that it breaks the yoke around its neck or can no longer fit into its yoke. Fatness would symbolize the Lord’s restored blessings; the removal of the yoke would symbolize the cessation of Assyrian oppression. Because of the difficulty of the metaphor, many prefer to emend the text at this point. Some emend וְחֻבַּל (vÿkhubbal, “and it will be destroyed,” a perfect with prefixed vav), to יִחְבֹּל (yikhbol, “[it] will be destroyed,” an imperfect), and take the verb with what precedes, “and their yoke will be destroyed from your neck.” Proponents of this view (cf. NAB, NRSV) then emend עֹל (’ol, “yoke”) to עָלָה (’alah, “he came up”) and understand this verb as introducing the following description of the Assyrian invasion (vv. 28-32). מִפְּנֵי־שָׁמֶן (mippÿney-shamen, “because of fatness”) is then emended to read “from before Rimmon” (NAB, NRSV), “from before Samaria,” or “from before Jeshimon.” Although this line may present difficulties, it appears best to regard the line as a graphic depiction of God’s abundant blessings on his servant nation.
16 tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.
17 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (bo’) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b.
18 tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים.
19 sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.
20 tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”
21 tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”
22 sn That is, Egypt.
23 tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”
24 tn Heb “Indeed your ruins and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction.” This statement is abruptly terminated in the Hebrew text and left incomplete.
25 tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.
26 tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”
27 tn Heb “for many are our rebellious deeds before you.”
28 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] our rebellious deeds (are) with us, and our sins, we know them.”
29 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
30 tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”
sn This may refer to the “angel of God” mentioned in Exod 14:19, who in turn may be identical to the divine “presence” (literally, “face”) referred to in Exod 33:14-15 and Deut 4:37. Here in Isa 63 this messenger may be equated with God’s “holy Spirit” (see vv. 10-11) and “the Spirit of the Lord” (v. 14). See also Ps 139:7, where God’s “Spirit” seems to be equated with his “presence” (literally, “face”) in the synonymous parallelistic structure.
31 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
32 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”