Discovery BoxIsaiah 8:18 
Context8:18 Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me 1 are reminders and object lessons 2 in Israel, sent from the Lord who commands armies, who lives on Mount Zion.
Isaiah 19:20
Context19:20 It 3 will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of 4 the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender 5 who will rescue them.
Isaiah 20:3
Context20:3 Later the Lord explained, “In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush,
Isaiah 37:30
Context37:30 6 “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: 7 This year you will eat what grows wild, 8 and next year 9 what grows on its own. But the year after that 10 you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 11
Isaiah 55:13
Context55:13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes,
firs will grow in place of nettles;
they will be a monument to the Lord, 12
a permanent reminder that will remain. 13
Isaiah 66:19
Context66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them 14 and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, 15 Lud 16 (known for its archers 17 ), Tubal, Javan, 18 and to the distant coastlands 19 that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.
1 sn This refers to Shear-jashub (7:3) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8:1, 3).
2 tn Or “signs and portents” (NAB, NRSV). The names of all three individuals has symbolic value. Isaiah’s name (which meant “the Lord delivers”) was a reminder that the Lord was the nation’s only source of protection; Shear-jashub’s name was meant, at least originally, to encourage Ahaz (see the note at 7:3), and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz’s name was a guarantee that God would defeat Israel and Syria (see the note at 8:4). The word מוֹפֶת (mofet, “portent”) can often refer to some miraculous event, but in 20:3 it is used, along with its synonym אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) of Isaiah’s walking around half-naked as an object lesson of what would soon happen to the Egyptians.
3 tn The masculine noun מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbbeakh, “altar”) in v. 19 is probably the subject of the masculine singular verb הָיָה (hayah) rather than the feminine noun מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”), also in v. 19.
4 tn Heb “a sign and a witness to the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] in the land of Egypt.”
5 tn רָב (rav) is a substantival participle (from רִיב, riv) meaning “one who strives, contends.”
6 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).
7 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
8 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
9 tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).
10 tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).
11 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.
12 tn Heb “to the Lord for a name.” For שֵׁם (shem) used in the sense of “monument,” see also 56:5, where it stands parallel to יָד (yad).
13 tn Or, more literally, “a permanent sign that will not be cut off.”
14 tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).
15 tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).
16 sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).
17 tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).
18 sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).
19 tn Or “islands” (NIV).
