5:24 Therefore, as flaming fire 1 devours straw,
and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,
so their root will rot,
and their flower will blow away like dust. 2
For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies,
they have spurned the commands 3 of the Holy One of Israel. 4
“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,
by my strategy that I devised.
I invaded the territory of nations, 5
and looted their storehouses.
Like a mighty conqueror, 6 I brought down rulers. 7
18:7 At that time
tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies,
by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,
a people that are feared far and wide,
a nation strong and victorious,
whose land rivers divide. 8
The tribute 9 will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. 10
37:29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears, 14
I will put my hook in your nose, 15
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.”
47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; 16
you thought, 17 ‘No one sees me.’
Your self-professed 18 wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,
when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ 19
47:11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away. 20
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it. 21
53:10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,
once restitution is made, 22
he will see descendants and enjoy long life, 23
and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.
57:8 Behind the door and doorpost you put your symbols. 24
Indeed, 25 you depart from me 26 and go up
and invite them into bed with you. 27
You purchase favors from them, 28
you love their bed,
and gaze longingly 29 on their genitals. 30
1 tn Heb “a tongue of fire” (so NASB), referring to a tongue-shaped flame.
2 sn They are compared to a flowering plant that withers quickly in a hot, arid climate.
3 tn Heb “the word.”
4 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
5 tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”
6 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).
7 tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.
8 tn On the interpretive difficulties of this verse, see the notes at v. 2, where the same terminology is used.
9 tn The words “the tribute” are repeated here in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “to the place of the name of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], Mount Zion.”
11 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
12 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
13 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
14 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).
15 sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
16 tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”
17 tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”
18 tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
19 tn See the note at v. 8.
20 tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.
21 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”
22 tn The meaning of this line is uncertain. It reads literally, “if you/she makes, a reparation offering, his life.” The verb תָּשִׂים (tasim) could be second masculine singular,in which case it would have to be addressed to the servant or to God. However, the servant is only addressed once in this servant song (see 52:14a), and God either speaks or is spoken about in this servant song; he is never addressed. Furthermore, the idea of God himself making a reparation offering is odd. If the verb is taken as third feminine singular, then the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) at the end of the line is the likely subject. In this case one can take the suffixed form of the noun as equivalent to a pronoun and translate, “if he [literally, “his life”] makes a reparation offering.”
sn What constitutes the servant’s reparation offering? Some might think his suffering, but the preceding context views this as past, while the verb here is imperfect in form. The offering appears to be something the servant does after his suffering has been completed. Perhaps the background of the language can be found in the Levitical code, where a healed leper would offer a reparation offering as part of the ritual to achieve ceremonial cleanliness (see Lev 14). The servant was pictured earlier in the song as being severely ill. This illness (a metaphor for the effects of the people’s sin) separated him from God. However, here we discover the separation is not final; once reparation is made, so to speak, he will again experience the Lord’s favor.
23 sn The idiomatic and stereotypical language emphasizes the servant’s restoration to divine favor. Having numerous descendants and living a long life are standard signs of divine blessing. See Job 42:13-16.
24 tn The precise referent of זִכָּרוֹן (zikkaron) in this context is uncertain. Elsewhere the word refers to a memorial or commemorative sign. Here it likely refers to some type of idolatrous symbol.
25 tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).
26 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “from me you uncover.” The translation assumes an emendation of the Piel form גִּלִּית (gillit, “you uncover”), which has no object expressed here, to the Qal גָּלִית (galit, “you depart”).
27 tn Heb “you make wide your bed” (NASB similar).
28 tc Heb “and you [second masculine singular, unless the form be taken as third feminine singular] cut for yourself [feminine singular] from them.” Most English translations retain the MT reading in spite of at least three problems. This section makes significant use of feminine verbs and noun suffixes because of the sexual imagery. The verb in question is likely a 2nd person masculine singular verb. Nevertheless, this kind of fluctuation in gender appears elsewhere (GKC 127-28 §47.k and 462 §144.p; cf. Jer 3:5; Ezek 22:4; 23:32; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:473, n. 13). Secondly, when this verbal root signifies establishing a covenant, it is normally accompanied by the noun for “covenant” (בְּרִית, bÿrit). Finally, this juxtaposition of the verb “to cut” and “covenant” normally is followed by the preposition “with,” while here it is “from.” The translation above assumes an emendation of וַתִּכְרָת (vatikhrah, “and you cut”) to וְכָרִית (vÿkharit, “and you purchase”) from the root כָּרָה (kharah); see HALOT 497 s.v. II כרה.
29 tn The Hebrew text has simply חָזָה (khazah, “gaze”). The adverb “longingly” is interpretive (see the context, where sexual lust is depicted).
30 tn Heb “[at] a hand you gaze.” The term יָד (yad, “hand”) probably has the sense of “power, manhood” here, where it is used, as in Ugaritic, as a euphemism for the genitals. See HALOT 387 s.v. I יָד.