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
9:4 For their oppressive yoke
and the club that strikes their shoulders,
the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, 4
you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. 5
10:17 The light of Israel 6 will become a fire,
their Holy One 7 will become a flame;
it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s 8 briers
and his thorns in one day.
13:13 So I will shake the heavens, 9
and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, 10
because of the fury of the Lord who commands armies,
in the day he vents his raging anger. 11
22:5 For the sovereign master, 12 the Lord who commands armies,
has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion. 13
In the Valley of Vision 14 people shout 15
and cry out to the hill. 16
28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed, 17 every morning it will sweep by,
it will come through during the day and the night.” 18
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
47:9 Both of these will come upon you
suddenly, in one day!
You will lose your children and be widowed. 28
You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, 29
despite 30 your many incantations
and your numerous amulets. 31
52:5 And now, what do we have here?” 32 says the Lord.
“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,
those who rule over them taunt,” 33 says the Lord,
“and my name is constantly slandered 34 all day long.
60:11 Your gates will remain open at all times;
they will not be shut during the day or at night,
so that the wealth of nations may be delivered,
with their kings leading the way. 35
60:19 The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,
nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you;
the Lord will be your permanent source of light –
the splendor of your God will shine upon you. 36
65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!
Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’
These people are like smoke in my nostrils,
like a fire that keeps burning all day long.
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 tn Heb “for the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the scepter of the oppressor against him.” The singular pronouns are collective, referring to the people. The oppressed nation is compared to an ox weighed down by a heavy yoke and an animal that is prodded and beaten.
5 sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.
6 tn In this context the “Light of Israel” is a divine title (note the parallel title “his holy one”). The title points to God’s royal splendor, which overshadows and, when transformed into fire, destroys the “majestic glory” of the king of Assyria (v. 16b).
7 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
8 tn Heb “his.” In vv. 17-19 the Assyrian king and his empire is compared to a great forest and orchard that are destroyed by fire (symbolic of the Lord).
9 tn Or “the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
10 tn Heb “from its place” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV).
11 tn Heb “and in the day of the raging of his anger.”
12 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 12, 14, 15 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
13 tn Heb “For [there is] a day of panic, and trampling, and confusion for the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”
14 tn The traditional accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests that this phrase goes with what precedes.
15 tn The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Some take קִר (qir) as “wall” and interpret the verb to mean “tear down.” However, tighter parallelism (note the reference to crying for help in the next line) is achieved if one takes both the verb and noun from a root, attested in Ugaritic and Arabic, meaning “make a sound.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:404, n. 5.
16 sn Perhaps “the hill” refers to the temple mount.
17 tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV).
18 tn The words “it will come through” are supplied in the translation. The verb “will sweep by” does double duty in the parallel structure.
19 tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).
20 tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”
21 tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”
22 tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
23 sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681
24 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
25 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.
26 sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.
27 tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).
28 tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.
29 tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”
30 tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.
31 sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.
32 tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading (Qere)] to me here?”
33 tn The verb appears to be a Hiphil form from the root יָלַל (yalal, “howl”), perhaps here in the sense of “mock.” Some emend the form to יְהוֹלָּלוֹ (yÿhollalo) and understand a Polel form of the root הָלַל meaning here “mock, taunt.”
34 tn The verb is apparently a Hitpolal form (with assimilated tav, ת) from the root נָאַץ (na’ats), but GKC 151-52 §55.b explains it as a mixed form, combining Pual and Hitpolel readings.
35 tn Or “led in procession.” The participle is passive.
36 tn Heb “and your God for your splendor.”