9:12 Syria from the east,
and the Philistines from the west,
they gobbled up Israelite territory. 1
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. 2
9:21 Manasseh fought against 3 Ephraim,
and Ephraim against Manasseh;
together they fought against Judah.
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. 4
10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,
or to fall among those who have been killed. 5
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. 6
47:9 Both of these will come upon you
suddenly, in one day!
You will lose your children and be widowed. 7
You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, 8
despite 9 your many incantations
and your numerous amulets. 10
1 tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”
2 tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)
3 tn The words “fought against” are supplied in the translation both here and later in this verse for stylistic reasons.
4 tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched” (KJV and ASV both similar); NIV “his hand is still upraised.”
sn See the note at 9:12.
5 tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.
6 tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”
sn See the note at 9:12.
7 tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.
8 tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”
9 tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.
10 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.