Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:9 
Context1:9 If the Lord who commands armies 1 had not left us a few survivors,
we would have quickly become like Sodom, 2
we would have become like Gomorrah.
Isaiah 27:4
Context27:4 I am not angry.
I wish I could confront some thorns and briers!
Then I would march against them 3 for battle;
I would set them 4 all on fire,
Isaiah 48:18-19
Context48:18 If only you had obeyed my 5 commandments,
prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, 6
deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea. 7
48:19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, 8
and your children 9 like its granules.
Their name would not have been cut off
and eliminated from my presence. 10
1 tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” The title pictures God as the sovereign king who has at his disposal a multitude of attendants, messengers, and warriors to do his bidding. In some contexts, like this one, the military dimension of his rulership is highlighted. In this case, the title pictures him as one who leads armies into battle against his enemies.
2 tc The translation assumes that כִּמְעָט (kim’at, “quickly,” literally, “like a little”) goes with what follows, contrary to the MT accents, which take it with what precedes. In this case, one could translate the preceding line, “If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors.” If כִּמְעָט goes with the preceding line (following the MT accents), this expression highlights the idea that there would only be a few survivors (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:20; H. Zobel, TDOT 8:456). Israel would not be almost like Sodom but exactly like Sodom.
3 tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense. For other examples of a cohortative expressing resolve after a hypothetical statement introduced by נָתַן with מִי (miwith natan), see Judg 9:29; Jer 9:1-2; Ps 55:6.
4 tn Heb “it.” The feminine singular suffix apparently refers back to the expression “thorns and briers,” understood in a collective sense.
5 tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”
6 tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.
7 tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.
8 tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”
9 tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”
10 tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”
