¹ tn Or “stubborn”; CEV “have rejected me.”

² tn Heb “and companions of” (so KJV, NASB); CEV “friends of crooks.”

³ tn Heb “pursue”; NIV “chase after gifts.”

⁴ sn Isaiah may have chosen the word for gifts (שַׁלְמוֹנִים, shalmonim; a hapax legomena here), as a sarcastic pun on what these rulers should have been doing. Instead of attending to peace and wholeness (שָׁלוֹם, shalom), they sought after payoffs (שַׁלְמוֹנִים).

⁵ sn See the note at v. 17.

⁶ sn The rich oppressors referred to in Isaiah and the other eighth century prophets were not rich capitalists in the modern sense of the word. They were members of the royal military and judicial bureaucracies in Israel and Judah. As these bureaucracies grew, they acquired more and more land and gradually commandeered the economy and legal system. At various administrative levels bribery and graft become commonplace. The common people outside the urban administrative centers were vulnerable to exploitation in such a system, especially those, like widows and orphans, who had lost their family provider through death. Through confiscatory taxation, conscription, excessive interest rates, and other oppressive governmental measures and policies, they were gradually disenfranchised and lost their landed property, and with it, their rights as citizens. The socio-economic equilibrium envisioned in the law of Moses was radically disturbed.

⁷ sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.

⁸ tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”

⁹ tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”

¹⁰ tn Heb “woe to their soul.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and shall rest” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “and settle.”

¹² tn The meaning of this word (נַהֲלֹל, nahalol) is uncertain; some understand this as referring to another type of thorn bush. For bibliography, see HALOT 676 s.v. I *נַהֲלֹל.

¹³ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

¹⁴ tn Heb “the mighty and abundant waters of the river.” The referent of “the river” here, the Euphrates River, has been specified in the translation for clarity. As the immediately following words indicate, these waters symbolize the Assyrian king and his armies which will, as it were, inundate the land.

¹⁵ tn Heb “it will go up over all its stream beds and go over all its banks.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “for the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the scepter of the oppressor against him.” The singular pronouns are collective, referring to the people. The oppressed nation is compared to an ox weighed down by a heavy yoke and an animal that is prodded and beaten.

¹⁷ sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.

¹⁸ sn Throughout this section singular forms are used to refer to Assyria; perhaps the king of Assyria is in view (see v. 12).

¹⁹ tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “impious”; NCV “separated from God.”

²⁰ tn Heb “and against the people of my anger I ordered him.”

²¹ tn Heb “to make it [i.e., the people] a trampled place.”

²² tn Or “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.

²³ tn Heb “house” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

²⁴ tn Heb “on one who strikes him down.” This individual is the king (“foreign leader”) of the oppressing nation (which NLT specifies as “the Assyrians”).

²⁵ tn Or “sincerely”; KJV, ASV, NAB, NRSV “in truth.”

²⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

²⁷ tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident alien in another society.

²⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umÿri’, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimrÿ’u, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsa^a). The present translation assumes this change.

²⁹ tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.

³⁰ tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).

³¹ tn Heb “descendant and child.”

³² tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

³³ tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

³⁴ tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

³⁵ tn That is, “live as resident foreigners.”

³⁶ tn Heb “Be a hiding place for them.”

³⁷ tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) as asseverative, but one could take it as explanatory (“for,” KJV, NASB) or temporal (“when,” NAB, NRSV). In the latter case, v. 4b would be logically connected to v. 5.

³⁸ tn A perfect verbal form is used here and in the next two lines for rhetorical effect; the demise of the oppressor(s) is described as if it had already occurred.

³⁹ tc The Hebrew text has, “they will be finished, the one who tramples, from the earth.” The plural verb form תַּמּוּ, (tammu, “disappear”) could be emended to agree with the singular subject רֹמֵס (romes, “the one who tramples”) or the participle can be emended to a plural (רֹמֵסִם, romesim) to agree with the verb. The translation assumes the latter. Haplography of mem (ם) seems likely; note that the word after רֹמֵס begins with a mem.

⁴⁰ tn Heb “and the land of Judah will become [a source of] shame to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it [i.e., the land of Judah] will fear because of the plan of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] which he is planning against him.”

⁴¹ tn Heb “Egypt.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the present translation uses the pronoun (“they”) here.

⁴² tn Heb “will know the Lord.”

⁴³ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 23 and 24.

⁴⁴ tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

⁴⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (bo’) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b.

⁴⁶ tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים.

⁴⁷ tn Heb “who said to them.”

⁴⁸ sn This message encapsulates the Lord’s invitation to his people to find security in his protection and blessing.

⁴⁹ tn Heb “for when he sees his children, the work of my hands in his midst.”

⁵⁰ tn Or “treat as holy” (also in the following line); NASB, NRSV “will sanctify.”

⁵¹ sn Holy One of Jacob is similar to the phrase “Holy One of Israel” common throughout Isaiah; see the sn at Isa 1:4.

⁵² tn Or “fear,” in the sense of “stand in awe of.”

⁵³ tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.

⁵⁴ tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.

⁵⁵ tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.

⁵⁶ tn Heb “Assyria will fall by a sword, not of a man.”

⁵⁷ tn Heb “and a sword not of humankind will devour him.”

⁵⁸ tn Heb “he will flee for himself from before a sword.”

⁵⁹ tn Heb “a man,” but אִישׁ (’ish) probably refers here to “each” of the officials mentioned in the previous verse.

⁶⁰ tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”

sn It is uncertain what particular scroll is referred to here. Perhaps the phrase simply refers to this prophecy and is an admonition to pay close attention to the details of the message.

⁶¹ tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

⁶² tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”

⁶³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and a few medieval mss have פִּיהוּ (pihu, “his mouth [has commanded]”), while a few other medieval mss read פִּי יְהוָה (pi yÿhvah, “the mouth of the Lord [has commanded]”).

⁶⁴ tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

⁶⁵ tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”

⁶⁶ tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”

⁶⁷ tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).

⁶⁸ sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).

⁶⁹ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.

⁷⁰ tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”

⁷¹ tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”

⁷² tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).

⁷³ sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.

⁷⁴ tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

⁷⁵ tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

⁷⁶ sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.

⁷⁷ tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

⁷⁸ tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

⁷⁹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

⁸⁰ tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”

⁸¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.

⁸² tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

⁸³ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.

⁸⁴ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

⁸⁵ tn The pronoun “his” probably refers to the one who forms/casts an idol (v. 10), in which case it refers to the craftsman’s associates in the idol-manufacturing guild.

⁸⁶ sn The point seems to be this: If the idols are the mere products of human hands, then those who trust in them will be disappointed, for man-made gods are incapable of helping their “creators.”

⁸⁷ tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.

⁸⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.

⁸⁹ sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).

⁹⁰ tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”

sn The Lord’s ally is a reference to Cyrus.

⁹¹ tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”

⁹² tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading (Qere)] to me here?”

⁹³ tn The verb appears to be a Hiphil form from the root יָלַל (yalal, “howl”), perhaps here in the sense of “mock.” Some emend the form to יְהוֹלָּלוֹ (yÿhollalo) and understand a Polel form of the root הָלַל meaning here “mock, taunt.”

⁹⁴ tn The verb is apparently a Hitpolal form (with assimilated tav, ת) from the root נָאַץ (na’ats), but GKC 151-52 §55.b explains it as a mixed form, combining Pual and Hitpolel readings.

⁹⁵ tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”

⁹⁶ tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”

⁹⁷ tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

⁹⁸ tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

⁹⁹ tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.

¹⁰⁰ tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.

¹⁰¹ tn Or “righteous” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “just.”

¹⁰² tn Heb “a shoot of his planting, the work of my hands, to reveal splendor.”

¹⁰³ tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”

¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”

¹⁰⁵ tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).

¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).

¹⁰⁷ tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁰⁸ tn Or “so” (KJV, ASV), or “thus” (NAB, NRSV).

¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “making for yourself a majestic name.”

¹¹⁰ tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”

¹¹¹ tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”

¹¹² tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”

¹¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).

¹¹⁴ tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”

¹¹⁵ tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”

¹¹⁶ tn Heb “I will measure out their pay [from the] beginning into their lap,” i.e., he will give them everything they have earned.

¹¹⁷ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

¹¹⁸ tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

¹¹⁹ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

¹²⁰ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”