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.
40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks, 7 “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds: 8 “All people are like grass, 9
and all their promises 10 are like the flowers in the field.
40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; 11
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. 12
60:22 The least of you will multiply into 13 a thousand;
the smallest of you will become a large nation.
When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!” 14
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 Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.
6 sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)
7 tn Heb “and he says.” Apparently a second “voice” responds to the command of the first “voice.”
8 tn The words “the first voice responds” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first voice tells the second one what to declare.
9 tn Heb “all flesh is grass.” The point of the metaphor is explained in v. 7.
10 tn Heb “and all his loyalty.” The antecedent of the third masculine suffix is בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”), which refers collectively to mankind. The LXX, apparently understanding the antecedent as “grass,” reads “glory,” but חֶסֶד (khesed) rarely, if ever, has this nuance. The normal meaning of חֶסֶד (“faithfulness, loyalty, devotion”) fits very well in the argument. Human beings and their faithfulness (verbal expressions of faithfulness are specifically in view; cf. NRSV “constancy”) are short-lived and unreliable, in stark contrast to the decrees and promises of the eternal God.
11 tn The words “for a sacrifice” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
12 sn The point is that not even the Lebanon forest could supply enough wood and animals for an adequate sacrifice to the Lord.
13 tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).
14 tn Heb “I, the Lord, in its time, I will quickly do it.”