4:5 Then the Lord will create
over all of Mount Zion 1
and over its convocations
a cloud and smoke by day
and a bright flame of fire by night; 2
indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence. 3
37:29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears, 4
I will put my hook in your nose, 5
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.”
45:8 O sky, rain down from above!
Let the clouds send down showers 6 of deliverance!
Let the earth absorb it 7 so salvation may grow, 8
and deliverance may sprout up 9 along with it.
I, the Lord, create it. 10
1 tn Heb “over all the place, Mount Zion.” Cf. NLT “Jerusalem”; CEV “the whole city.”
2 tn Heb “a cloud by day, and smoke, and brightness of fire, a flame by night.” Though the accents in the Hebrew text suggest otherwise, it might be preferable to take “smoke” with what follows, since one would expect smoke to accompany fire.
sn The imagery of the cloud by day and fire by night recalls the days of Moses, when a cloud and fire were tangible reminders that the Lord was guiding and protecting his people (Exod 13:21-22; 14:19, 24). In the future age envisioned in Isa 4, the Lord’s protective presence will be a reality.
3 tn Heb “indeed (or “for”) over all the glory, a canopy.” This may allude to Exod 40:34-35, where a cloud overshadows the meeting tent as it is filled with God’s glory.
4 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).
5 sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
6 tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”
7 tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”
8 tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).
9 tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).
10 tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).