Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:24-25 
Context1:24 Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies, 1
the powerful ruler of Israel, 2 says this:
“Ah, I will seek vengeance 3 against my adversaries,
I will take revenge against my enemies. 4
I will purify your metal with flux. 6
I will remove all your slag. 7
1 tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at v. 9.
2 tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Israel.”
3 tn Heb “console myself” (i.e., by getting revenge); NRSV “pour out my wrath on.”
4 sn The Lord here identifies with the oppressed and comes as their defender and vindicator.
5 tn Heb “turn my hand against you.” The second person pronouns in vv. 25-26 are feminine singular. Personified Jerusalem is addressed. The idiom “turn the hand against” has the nuance of “strike with the hand, attack,” in Ps 81:15 HT (81:14 ET); Ezek 38:12; Am 1:8; Zech 13:7. In Jer 6:9 it is used of gleaning grapes.
6 tn Heb “I will purify your dross as [with] flux.” “Flux” refers here to minerals added to the metals in a furnace to prevent oxides from forming. For this interpretation of II בֹּר (bor), see HALOT 153 s.v. II בֹּר and 750 s.v. סִיג.
7 sn The metaphor comes from metallurgy; slag is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.
