Isaiah 10:33
Context10:33 Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,
is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. 1
The tallest trees 2 will be cut down,
the loftiest ones will be brought low.
Isaiah 17:6
Context17:6 There will be some left behind,
like when an olive tree is beaten –
two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,
four or five on its fruitful branches,”
says the Lord God of Israel.
Isaiah 27:10-11
Context27:10 For the fortified city 3 is left alone;
it is a deserted settlement
and abandoned like the desert.
Calves 4 graze there;
they lie down there
and eat its branches bare. 5
27:11 When its branches get brittle, 6 they break;
women come and use them for kindling. 7
For these people lack understanding, 8
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
1 tc The Hebrew text reads “with terrifying power,” or “with a crash.” מַעֲרָצָה (ma’aratsah, “terrifying power” or “crash”) occurs only here. Several have suggested an emendation to מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad, “ax”) parallel to “ax” in v. 34; see HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:448.
sn As in vv. 12 (see the note there) and 18, the Assyrians are compared to a tree/forest in vv. 33-34.
2 tn Heb “the exalted of the height.” This could refer to the highest branches (cf. TEV) or the tallest trees (cf. NIV, NRSV).
3 sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.
4 tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.
5 tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.
6 tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.
8 tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”