Discovery BoxIsaiah 37:22-24 
Context37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: 1
“The virgin daughter Zion 2
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 3
37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly? 4
At the Holy One of Israel! 5
37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 6
‘With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions, 7
its thickest woods.
1 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
2 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
3 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
4 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”
5 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
6 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
7 tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”
