¹ tn Heb “a tongue of fire” (so NASB), referring to a tongue-shaped flame.

² sn They are compared to a flowering plant that withers quickly in a hot, arid climate.

³ tn Heb “the word.”

⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

⁵ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord rages.”

⁶ tn Or “extends”; KJV, ASV “he hath stretched forth.”

⁷ tn Or “garbage” (NCV, CEV, NLT); NAB, NASB, NIV “refuse.”

⁸ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

⁹ tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).

¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.

¹² tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.

¹³ tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “are clothed with.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “those going down to.”

¹⁶ tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.

¹⁷ tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.

¹⁸ sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.

¹⁹ tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

²⁰ tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.

²¹ sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).

²² tn Or “be atoned for” (NIV); cf. NRSV “be expiated.”

²³ tn Heb “and this [is] all the fruit of removing his sin.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear, though “removing his sin” certainly parallels “Jacob’s sin will be removed” in the preceding line. If original, “all the fruit” may refer to the result of the decision to remove sin, but the phrase may be a corruption of לְכַפֵּר (lekhaper, “to atone for”), which in turn might be a gloss on הָסִר (hasir, “removing”).

²⁴ tn Heb “when he makes the stones of an altar.” The singular “altar” is collective here; pagan altars are in view, as the last line of the verse indicates. See also 17:8.

²⁵ sn As interpreted and translated above, this verse says that Israel must totally repudiate its pagan religious practices in order to experience God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another option is to understand “in this way” and “this” in v. 9a as referring back to the judgment described in v. 8. In this case כָּפַר (kafar, “atone for”) is used in a sarcastic sense; Jacob’s sin is “atoned for” and removed through severe judgment. Following this line of interpretation, one might paraphrase the verse as follows: “So in this way (through judgment) Jacob’s sin will be “atoned for,” and this is the way his sin will be removed, when he (i.e., God) makes all the altar stones like crushed limestone….” This interpretation is more consistent with the tone of judgment in vv. 8 and 10-11.

²⁶ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord will be to them, ‘tsahv latsahv,’ etc.” See the note at v. 10. In this case the “Lord’s word” is not the foreigner’s strange sounding words (as in v. 10), but the Lord’s repeated appeals to them (like the one quoted in v. 12). As time goes on, the Lord’s appeals through the prophets will have no impact on the people; they will regard prophetic preaching as gibberish.

²⁷ tn Heb “as a result they will go and stumble backward.” Perhaps an infant falling as it attempts to learn to walk is the background image here (cf. v. 9b). The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) could be taken as indicating purpose (“in order that”), rather than simple result. In this case the people’s insensitivity to the message is caused by the Lord as a means of expediting their downfall.

²⁸ sn When divine warnings and appeals become gibberish to the spiritually insensitive, they have no guidance and are doomed to destruction.

²⁹ tn Heb “from the ground” (so NIV, NCV).

³⁰ tn Heb “and from the dust your word will be low.”

³¹ tn Heb “and your voice will be like a ritual pit from the earth.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19. Here the word is used metonymically for the voice that emerges from such a pit.

³² tn Heb “and from the dust your word will chirp.” The words “as if muttering an incantation” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the parallelism and 8:19.

³³ tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”

³⁴ tn The words “large enough” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

³⁵ tn Heb “to remove fire from the place of kindling.”

³⁶ tn On the meaning of גֶבֶא (geveh, “cistern”) see HALOT 170 s.v.

³⁷ tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”

³⁸ tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”

³⁹ tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”

⁴¹ tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”

⁴² tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

⁴³ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

⁴⁴ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

⁴⁵ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

⁴⁶ tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”

⁴⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and all the ancient versions except LXX.

⁴⁸ tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

⁴⁹ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

⁵⁰ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

⁵¹ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵² tn Or “making [their] bed.”

⁵³ tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.

⁵⁴ tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”

⁵⁵ tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”