¹ tn Or, perhaps “cream,” frequently, “curds” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); KJV, ASV “butter”; CEV “yogurt.”

² tn Heb “for his knowing.” Traditionally the preposition has been translated in a temporal sense, “when he knows.” However, though the preposition לְ (lamed) can sometimes have a temporal force, it never carries such a nuance in any of the 40 other passages where it is used with the infinitive construct of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”). Most often the construction indicates purpose/result. This sense is preferable here. The following context indicates that sour milk and honey will epitomize the devastation that God’s judgment will bring upon the land. Cultivated crops will be gone and the people will be forced to live off the milk produced by their goats and the honey they find in the thickets. As the child is forced to eat a steady diet of this sour milk and honey, he will be reminded of the consequences of sin and motivated to make correct moral decisions in order to avoid further outbreaks of divine discipline.

³ tn Or “salvation” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

⁴ tn The words “in him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁵ tc The Hebrew text has, “for my strength and protection [is] the Lord, the Lord (Heb “Yah, Yahweh).” The word יְהוָה (yehvah) is probably dittographic or explanatory here (note that the short form of the name [יָהּ, yah] precedes, and that the graphically similar וַיְהִי [vayÿhi] follows). Exod 15:2, the passage from which the words of v. 2b are taken, has only יָהּ. The word זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song,” in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing); note that in v. 5 the verb זָמַר (zamar, “sing”) appears. Many recent commentators, however, have argued that the noun is here instead a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v. III *זמר.

⁶ tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “my savior.”

⁷ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

⁸ tn Heb “call in his name,” i.e., “invoke his name.”

⁹ tn Heb “bring to remembrance that his name is exalted.” The Lord’s “name” stands here for his character and reputation.

¹⁰ tn Heb “who is over the house” (so ASV); NASB “who is in charge of the royal household.”

¹¹ tn The words “and tell him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹² sn The metaphor depicts how secure his position will be.

¹³ tn Heb “and he will become a glorious throne for the house of his father.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and he is the stability of your times.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “a rich store of deliverance, wisdom, and knowledge.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord, it is his treasure.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸ tn Heb “Cush” (so NASB); NIV, NCV “the Cushite king of Egypt.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘He has come out to fight with you.’”

²⁰ tn The Hebrew text has, “and he heard and he sent,” but the parallel in 2 Kgs 19:9 has וַיָּשָׁב וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayyashav vayyishlakh, “and he returned and he sent”), i.e., “he again sent.”

²¹ tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”

²² 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.

²³ sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.

²⁴ tn Heb “Let us stand together!”

²⁵ tn Heb “Who is the master of my judgment?”

²⁶ tn Heb “let him approach me”; NAB, NIV “Let him confront me.”

²⁷ tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”

²⁸ tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”

²⁹ tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”

³⁰ tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”

³¹ tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”

³² tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”