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 5:13
Context5:13 Therefore my 3 people will be deported 4
because of their lack of understanding.
Their 5 leaders will have nothing to eat, 6
their 7 masses will have nothing to drink. 8
Isaiah 9:10
Context9:10 “The bricks have fallen,
but we will rebuild with chiseled stone;
the sycamore fig trees have been cut down,
but we will replace them with cedars.” 9
Isaiah 13:3
Context13:3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; 10
I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, 11
my boasting, arrogant ones. 12
Isaiah 14:12
Context14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,
O shining one, son of the dawn! 13
You have been cut down to the ground,
O conqueror 14 of the nations! 15
Isaiah 29:14
Context29:14 Therefore I will again do an amazing thing for these people –
an absolutely extraordinary deed. 16
Wise men will have nothing to say,
the sages will have no explanations.” 17
Isaiah 37:11
Context37:11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. 18 Do you really think you will be rescued? 19
Isaiah 37:23
Context37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly? 20
At the Holy One of Israel! 21
Isaiah 38:3
Context38:3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you 22 faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, 23 and how I have carried out your will.” 24 Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. 25
Isaiah 39:4
Context39:4 Isaiah 26 asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything in my treasuries.”
Isaiah 43:8
Context43:8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,
those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
Isaiah 48:18-19
Context48:18 If only you had obeyed my 27 commandments,
prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, 28
deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea. 29
48:19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, 30
and your children 31 like its granules.
Their name would not have been cut off
and eliminated from my presence. 32
Isaiah 49:4
Context49:4 But I thought, 33 “I have worked in vain;
I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” 34
But the Lord will vindicate me;
my God will reward me. 35
Isaiah 56:11
Context56:11 The dogs have big appetites;
they are never full. 36
They are shepherds who have no understanding;
they all go their own way,
each one looking for monetary gain. 37
Isaiah 59:2
Context59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. 38
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 sn It is not certain if the prophet or the Lord is speaking at this point.
4 tn The suffixed (perfect) form of the verb is used; in this way the coming event is described for rhetorical effect as occurring or as already completed.
5 tn The third masculine singular suffix refers back to “my people.”
6 tn Heb “Their glory will be men of hunger.” כָּבוֹד (kavod, “glory”) is in opposition to הָמוֹן (hamon, “masses”) and refers here to the rich and prominent members of the nation. Some prefer to repoint מְתֵי (mÿtey, “men of”) as מִתֵי (mitey, “dead ones of”).
7 tn The third masculine singular suffix refers back to “my people.”
8 tn Heb “and their masses will be parched [by] thirst.”
9 sn Though judgment (see v. 8) had taken away the prosperity they did have (symbolized by the bricks and sycamore fig trees), they arrogantly expected the future to bring even greater prosperity (symbolized by the chiseled stone and cedars).
10 tn Heb “my consecrated ones,” i.e., those who have been set apart by God for the special task of carrying out his judgment.
11 tn Heb “my warriors with respect to my anger.”
12 tn Heb “the boasting ones of my pride”; cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV “my proudly exulting ones.”
13 tn The Hebrew text has הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר (helel ben-shakhar, “Helel son of Shachar”), which is probably a name for the morning star (Venus) or the crescent moon. See HALOT 245 s.v. הֵילֵל.
sn What is the background for the imagery in vv. 12-15? This whole section (vv. 4b-21) is directed to the king of Babylon, who is clearly depicted as a human ruler. Other kings of the earth address him in vv. 9ff., he is called “the man” in v. 16, and, according to vv. 19-20, he possesses a physical body. Nevertheless the language of vv. 12-15 has led some to see a dual referent in the taunt song. These verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv. 9-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology, including references to Helel son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High. Apparently these verses allude to a mythological story about a minor god (Helel son of Shachar) who tried to take over Zaphon, the mountain of the gods. His attempted coup failed and he was hurled down to the underworld. The king of Babylon is taunted for having similar unrealized delusions of grandeur. Some Christians have seen an allusion to the fall of Satan here, but this seems contextually unwarranted (see J. Martin, “Isaiah,” BKCOT, 1061).
14 tn Some understand the verb to from חָלַשׁ (khalash, “to weaken”), but HALOT 324 s.v. II חלשׁ proposes a homonym here, meaning “to defeat.”
15 sn In this line the taunting kings hint at the literal identity of the king, after likening him to the god Helel and a tree. The verb גָדַע (gada’, “cut down”) is used of chopping down trees in 9:10 and 10:33.
16 tn Heb “Therefore I will again do something amazing with these people, an amazing deed, an amazing thing.” This probably refers to the amazing transformation predicted in vv. 17-24, which will follow the purifying judgment implied in vv. 15-16.
17 tn Heb “the wisdom of their wise ones will perish, the discernment of their discerning ones will keep hidden.”
18 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
19 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
20 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”
21 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
22 tn Heb “walked before you.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 254.
23 tn Heb “and with a complete heart”; KJV, ASV “with a perfect heart.”
24 tn Heb “and that which is good in your eyes I have done.”
25 tn Heb “wept with great weeping”; NCV “cried loudly”; TEV “began to cry bitterly.”
26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Isaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”
28 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.
29 tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.
30 tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”
31 tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”
32 tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”
33 tn Or “said” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “I replied.”
34 tn Heb “for nothing and emptiness.” Synonyms are combined to emphasize the common idea.
35 tn Heb “But my justice is with the Lord, and my reward [or “wage”] with my God.”
36 sn The phrase never full alludes to the greed of the leaders.
37 tn Heb “for his gain from his end.”
38 tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”
