Discovery BoxIsaiah 4:4 
Context4:4 At that time 1 the sovereign master 2 will wash the excrement 3 from Zion’s women,
he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, 4
as he comes to judge
and to bring devastation. 5
Isaiah 8:14
Context8:14 He will become a sanctuary, 6
but a stone that makes a person trip,
and a rock that makes one stumble –
to the two houses of Israel. 7
He will become 8 a trap and a snare
to the residents of Jerusalem. 9
Isaiah 10:12
Context10:12 But when 10 the sovereign master 11 finishes judging 12 Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I 13 will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. 14
Isaiah 11:4
Context11:4 He will treat the poor fairly, 15
and make right decisions 16 for the downtrodden of the earth. 17
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, 18
and order the wicked to be executed. 19
Isaiah 11:12
Context11:12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;
he will gather Israel’s dispersed people 20
and assemble Judah’s scattered people
from the four corners of the earth.
Isaiah 16:5
Context16:5 Then a trustworthy king will be established;
he will rule in a reliable manner,
this one from David’s family. 21
He will be sure to make just decisions
and will be experienced in executing justice. 22
Isaiah 18:5
Context18:5 For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted,
and the ripening fruit appears, 23
he will cut off the unproductive shoots 24 with pruning knives;
he will prune the tendrils. 25
Isaiah 22:22
Context22:22 I will place the key 26 to the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens the door, no one can close it; when he closes the door, no one can open it.
Isaiah 28:25
Context28:25 Once he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,
sow the seed of the cumin plant,
and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? 27
Isaiah 29:16
Context29:16 Your thinking is perverse! 28
Should the potter be regarded as clay? 29
Should the thing made say 30 about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?
Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?
Isaiah 30:28
Context30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river 31
that reaches one’s neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; 32
he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. 33
Isaiah 32:6
Context32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; 34
his mind plans out sinful deeds. 35
He commits godless deeds 36
and says misleading things about the Lord;
he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite 37
and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. 38
Isaiah 33:16
Context33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; 39
he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; 40
he will have food
and a constant supply of water.
Isaiah 40:22
Context40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; 41
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. 42
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, 43
and spreads it out 44 like a pitched tent. 45
Isaiah 40:26
ContextWho created all these heavenly lights? 47
He is the one who leads out their ranks; 48
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
Isaiah 41:2
Context41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? 49
Who 50 officially commissions him for service? 51
He hands nations over to him, 52
and enables him to subdue 53 kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow. 54
Isaiah 41:25
Context41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north 55 and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. 56
He steps on 57 rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
Isaiah 50:4
Context50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, 58
so that I know how to help the weary. 59
He wakes me up every morning;
he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. 60
Isaiah 53:2-3
Context53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, 61
like a root out of parched soil; 62
he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, 63
no special appearance that we should want to follow him. 64
53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, 65
one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;
people hid their faces from him; 66
he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. 67
Isaiah 54:5
Context54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –
the Lord who commands armies is his name.
He is your protector, 68 the Holy One of Israel. 69
He is called “God of the entire earth.”
Isaiah 55:7
Context55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle 70
and sinful people their plans. 71
They should return 72 to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, 73
and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. 74
Isaiah 58:11
Context58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;
he will feed you even in parched regions. 75
He will give you renewed strength, 76
and you will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring that continually produces water.
Isaiah 59:17
Context59:17 He wears his desire for justice 77 like body armor, 78
and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head. 79
He puts on the garments of vengeance 80
and wears zeal like a robe.
1 tn Heb “when” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); CEV “after”; NRSV “once.”
2 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).
3 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”).
4 sn See 1:21 for a related concept.
5 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.”
6 tn Because the metaphor of protection (“sanctuary”) does not fit the negative mood that follows in vv. 14b-15, some contend that מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “sanctuary”) is probably a corruption of an original מוֹקֵשׁ (moqesh, “snare”), a word that appears in the next line (cf. NAB and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:355-56). If the MT reading is retained (as in the above translation), the fact that Yahweh is a sanctuary wraps up the point of v. 13 and stands in contrast to God’s treatment of those who rebel against him (the rest of v. 14).
7 sn The two “houses” of Israel (= the patriarch Jacob) are the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah.
8 tn These words are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. וְהָיָה (vÿhayah, “and he will be”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse.
9 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
10 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
11 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 23, 24, 33 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
12 tn Heb “his work on/against.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “on”; NIV “against.”
13 tn The Lord is speaking here, as in vv. 5-6a.
14 tn Heb “I will visit [judgment] on the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of the height of his eyes.” The proud Assyrian king is likened to a large, beautiful fruit tree.
15 tn Heb “with justice” (so NAB) or “with righteousness” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
16 tn Heb “make decisions with rectitude”; cf. ASV, NRSV “and decide with equity.”
17 tn Or “land” (NAB, NCV, CEV). It is uncertain if the passage is picturing universal dominion or focusing on the king’s rule over his covenant people. The reference to God’s “holy mountain” in v. 9 and the description of renewed Israelite conquests in v. 14 suggest the latter, though v. 10 seems to refer to a universal kingdom (see 2:2-4).
18 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he will strike the earth with the scepter of his mouth.” Some have suggested that in this context אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) as an object of judgment seems too broad in scope. The parallelism is tighter if one emends the word to ץ(י)עָרִ (’arits, “potentate, tyrant”). The phrase “scepter of his mouth” refers to the royal (note “scepter”) decrees that he proclaims with his mouth. Because these decrees will have authority and power (see v. 2) behind them, they can be described as “striking” the tyrants down. Nevertheless, the MT reading may not need emending. Isaiah refers to the entire “earth” as the object of God’s judgment in several places without specifying the wicked as the object of the judgment (Isa 24:17-21; 26:9, 21; 28:22; cf. 13:11).
19 tn Heb “and by the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.” The “breath of his lips” refers to his speech, specifically in this context his official decrees that the wicked oppressors be eliminated from his realm. See the preceding note.
20 tn Or “the banished of Israel,” i.e., the exiles.
21 tn Heb “and a throne will be established in faithfulness, and he will sit on it in reliability, in the tent of David.”
22 tn Heb “one who judges and seeks justice, and one experienced in fairness.” Many understand מְהִר (mÿhir) to mean “quick, prompt” (see BDB 555 s.v. מָהִיר), but HALOT 552 s.v. מָהִיר offers the meaning “skillful, experienced,” and translates the phrase in v. 5 “zealous for what is right.”
23 tn Heb “and the unripe, ripening fruit is maturing.”
24 tn On the meaning of זַלְזַל (zalzal, “shoot [of the vine] without fruit buds”) see HALOT 272 s.v. *זַלְזַל.
25 tn Heb “the tendrils he will remove, he will cut off.”
26 sn This may refer to a literal insignia worn by the chief administrator. Even so, it would still symbolize the administrator’s authority to grant or exclude access to the king. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:422.
27 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “place wheat [?], and barley [?], and grain in its territory.” The term שׂוֹרָה (shorah) is sometimes translated “[in] its place,” but the word is unattested elsewhere. It is probably due to dittography of the immediately following שְׂעֹרָה (sÿo’rah, “barley”). The meaning of נִסְמָן (nisman) is also uncertain. It may be due to dittography of the immediately following כֻסֶּמֶת (kussemet, “grain”).
28 tn Heb “your overturning.” The predicate is suppressed in this exclamation. The idea is, “O your perversity! How great it is!” See GKC 470 §147.c. The people “overturn” all logic by thinking their authority supersedes God’s.
29 tn The expected answer to this rhetorical question is “of course not.” On the interrogative use of אִם (’im), see BDB 50 s.v.
30 tn Heb “that the thing made should say.”
31 tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.
32 tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.
33 tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.
34 tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.
35 tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”
36 tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”
37 tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”
38 tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”
39 tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”
40 tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”
41 tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
42 tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
43 tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).
44 tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.
45 tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”
46 tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”
47 tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.
48 tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)
49 sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).
50 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.
51 tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”
52 tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”
53 tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).
54 sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.
55 sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.
56 tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”
57 tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (vÿyavo’, “and he comes”), but this is likely a corruption of an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).
58 tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”
sn Verses 4-11 contain the third of the so-called servant songs, which depict the career of the Lord’s special servant, envisioned as an ideal Israel (49:3) who rescues the exiles and fulfills God’s purposes for the world. Here the servant alludes to opposition (something hinted at in 49:4), but also expresses his determination to persevere with the Lord’s help.
59 tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.
60 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”
61 tn Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 173-74.
62 sn The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.
63 tn Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.
64 tn Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.
65 tn Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 HT [39:4 ET]).
66 tn Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see BDB 712 s.v. מַסְתֵּר).
67 sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.
68 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
69 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
70 tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.
71 tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.
72 tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”
73 tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.
74 sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.
75 tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”
76 tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”
77 tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “goodness.”
78 tn Or “a breastplate” (traditional; so many English versions); TEV “a coat of armour.”
79 tn Heb “and [as] a helmet deliverance on his head.”
80 tn Heb “and he puts on the clothes of vengeance [as] a garment.”
