5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, 1
so we can see;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel 2 take shape 3 and come to pass,
then we will know it!”
37:26 4 Certainly you must have heard! 5
Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned 6 it,
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. 7
1 tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his ‘work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.
2 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
3 tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”
4 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
5 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
6 tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).
7 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.