9:18 For 5 evil burned like a fire, 6
it consumed thorns and briers;
it burned up the thickets of the forest,
and they went up in smoke. 7
27:4 I am not angry.
I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!
Then I would march against them 8 for battle;
I would set them 9 all on fire,
32:13 Mourn 10 over the land of my people,
which is overgrown with thorns and briers,
and over all the once-happy houses 11
in the city filled with revelry. 12
5:6 I will make it a wasteland;
no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, 13
and thorns and briers will grow there.
I will order the clouds
not to drop any rain on it.
10:17 The light of Israel 14 will become a fire,
their Holy One 15 will become a flame;
it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s 16 briers
and his thorns in one day.
1 tn Heb “in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
2 tn Heb “will become” (so NASB); NAB “shall be turned to.”
3 tn Heb “and all the hills which were hoed with a hoe, you will not go there [for] fear of the thorns and briers.”
4 tn Heb “and it will become a pasture for cattle and a trampling place for sheep.”
sn At this point one is able to summarize the content of the “sign” (vv. 14-15) as follows: A young woman known to be present when Isaiah delivered this message to Ahaz (perhaps a member of the royal family or the prophetess mentioned in 8:3) would soon give birth to a boy whom the mother would name Immanuel, “God is with us.” Eventually Immanuel would be forced to eat sour milk and honey, which would enable him to make correct moral decisions. How would this situation come about and how would it constitute a sign? Before this situation developed, the Israelites and Syrians would be defeated. But then the Lord would usher in a period of time unlike any since the division of the kingdom almost 200 years before. The Assyrians would overrun the land, destroy the crops, and force the people to subsist on goats’ milk and honey. At that time, as the people saw Immanuel eating his sour milk and honey, the Davidic family would be forced to acknowledge that God was indeed with them. He was present with them in the Syrian-Israelite crisis, fully capable of rescuing them; but he was also present with them in judgment, disciplining them for their lack of trust. The moral of the story is quite clear: Failure to appropriate God’s promises by faith can turn potential blessing into disciplinary judgment.
5 tn Or “Indeed” (cf. NIV “Surely”). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
6 sn Evil was uncontrollable and destructive, and so can be compared to a forest fire.
7 tn Heb “and they swirled [with] the rising of the smoke” (cf. NRSV).
8 tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense. For other examples of a cohortative expressing resolve after a hypothetical statement introduced by נָתַן with מִי (miwith natan), see Judg 9:29; Jer 9:1-2; Ps 55:6.
9 tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense.
10 tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.
11 tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.
12 sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.
13 tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.
14 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).
15 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
16 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).