Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:24 
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
Isaiah 3:1
Context3:1 Look, the sovereign Lord who commands armies 5
is about to remove from Jerusalem 6 and Judah
every source of security, including 7
all the food and water, 8
Isaiah 3:15
Context3:15 Why do you crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor?” 9
The sovereign Lord who commands armies 10 has spoken.
Isaiah 4:4
Context4:4 At that time 11 the sovereign master 12 will wash the excrement 13 from Zion’s women,
he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, 14
as he comes to judge
and to bring devastation. 15
Isaiah 9:4
Context9:4 For their oppressive yoke
and the club that strikes their shoulders,
the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, 16
you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. 17
Isaiah 19:20
Context19:20 It 18 will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of 19 the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender 20 who will rescue them.
Isaiah 26:14
Context26:14 The dead do not come back to life,
the spirits of the dead do not rise. 21
That is because 22 you came in judgment 23 and destroyed them,
you wiped out all memory of them.
Isaiah 28:22
Context28:22 So now, do not mock,
or your chains will become heavier!
For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,
from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. 24
Isaiah 40:10
Context40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; 25
his military power establishes his rule. 26
Look, his reward is with him;
his prize goes before him. 27
Isaiah 50:7
Context50:7 But the sovereign Lord helps me,
so I am not humiliated.
For that reason I am steadfastly resolved; 28
I know I will not be put to shame.
Isaiah 50:9
Context50:9 Look, the sovereign Lord helps me.
Who dares to condemn me?
Look, all of them will wear out like clothes;
a moth will eat away at them.
Isaiah 52:4
Context52:4 For this is what the sovereign Lord says:
“In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt;
Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.
Isaiah 56:8
Context56:8 The sovereign Lord says this,
the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will still gather them up.” 29
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 “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.
6 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
7 tn Heb “support and support.” The masculine and feminine forms of the noun are placed side-by-side to emphasize completeness. See GKC 394 §122.v.
8 tn Heb “all the support of food, and all the support of water.”
9 sn The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s outrage at what the leaders have done to the poor. He finds it almost unbelievable that they would have the audacity to treat his people in this manner.
10 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 1:9.
sn The use of this title, which also appears in v. 1, forms an inclusio around vv. 1-15. The speech begins and ends with a reference to “the master, the Lord who commands armies.”
11 tn Heb “when” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); CEV “after”; NRSV “once.”
12 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).
13 tn The word refers elsewhere to vomit (Isa 28:8) and fecal material (Isa 36:12). Many English versions render this somewhat euphemistically as “filth” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Ironically in God’s sight the beautiful jewelry described earlier is nothing but vomit and feces, for it symbolizes the moral decay of the city’s residents (cf. NLT “moral filth”).
14 sn See 1:21 for a related concept.
15 tn Heb “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” The precise meaning of the second half of the verse is uncertain. רוּחַ (ruakh) can be understood as “wind” in which case the passage pictures the Lord using a destructive wind as an instrument of judgment. However, this would create a mixed metaphor, for the first half of the verse uses the imagery of washing and rinsing to depict judgment. Perhaps the image would be that of a windstorm accompanied by heavy rain. רוּחַ can also mean “spirit,” in which case the verse may be referring to the Lord’s Spirit or, more likely, to a disposition that the Lord brings to the task of judgment. It is also uncertain if בָּעַר (ba’ar) here means “burning” or “sweeping away, devastating.”
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 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.
19 tn Heb “a sign and a witness to the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] in the land of Egypt.”
20 tn רָב (rav) is a substantival participle (from רִיב, riv) meaning “one who strives, contends.”
21 sn In light of what is said in verse 14b, the “dead” here may be the “masters” mentioned in verse 13.
22 tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen) normally indicates a cause-effect relationship between what precedes and follows and is translated, “therefore.” Here, however, it infers the cause from the effect and brings out what is implicit in the previous statement. See BDB 487 s.v.
23 tn Heb “visited [for harm]” (cf. KJV, ASV); NAB, NRSV “you have punished.”
24 tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).
25 tn Heb “comes as a strong one”; ASV “will come as a mighty one.” The preposition בְּ (bet) here carries the nuance “in the capacity of.” It indicates that the Lord possesses the quality expressed by the noun. See GKC 379 §119.i and HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ.
26 tn Heb “his arm rules for him” (so NIV, NRSV). The Lord’s “arm” symbolizes his military power (see Isa 51:9-10; 63:5).
27 tn As the Lord returns to Jerusalem as a victorious warrior, he brings with him the spoils of victory, called here his “reward” and “prize.” These terms might also be translated “wages” and “recompense.” Verse 11 indicates that his rescued people, likened to a flock of sheep, are his reward.
28 tn Heb “Therefore I set my face like flint.”
29 tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition -לְ (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (’alayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”
