Discovery BoxIsaiah 8:9 
Context8:9 You will be broken, 1 O nations;
you will be shattered! 2
Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth!
Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!
Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! 3
Isaiah 30:18
Context30:18 For this reason the Lord is ready to show you mercy;
he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. 4
Indeed, the Lord is a just God;
all who wait for him in faith will be blessed. 5
Isaiah 51:5
Context51:5 I am ready to vindicate, 6
I am ready to deliver, 7
I will establish justice among the nations. 8
The coastlands 9 wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 10
1 tn The verb רֹעוּ (ro’u) is a Qal imperative, masculine plural from רָעַע (ra’a’, “break”). Elsewhere both transitive (Job 34:24; Ps 2:9; Jer 15:12) and intransitive (Prov 25:19; Jer 11:16) senses are attested for the Qal of this verb. Because no object appears here, the form is likely intransitive: “be broken.” In this case the imperative is rhetorical (like “be shattered” later in the verse) and equivalent to a prediction, “you will be broken.” On the rhetorical use of the imperative in general, see IBHS 572 §34.4c; GKC 324 §110.c.
2 tn The imperatival form (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speaker’s firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. See the note on “be broken.”
3 tn The initial imperative (“get ready for battle”) acknowledges the reality of the nations’ hostility; the concluding imperative (Heb “be shattered”) is rhetorical and expresses the speakers’ firm conviction of the outcome of the nations’ attack. (See the note on “be broken.”) One could paraphrase, “Okay, go ahead and prepare for battle since that’s what you want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll be shattered.” This rhetorical use of the imperatives is comparable to saying to a child who is bent on climbing a high tree, “Okay, go ahead, climb the tree and break your arm!” What this really means is: “Okay, go ahead and climb the tree since that’s what you really want to do, but your actions will backfire and you’ll break your arm.” The repetition of the statement in the final two lines of the verse gives the challenge the flavor of a taunt (ancient Israelite “trash talking,” as it were).
4 tn Heb “Therefore the Lord waits to show you mercy, and therefore he is exalted to have compassion on you.” The logical connection between this verse and what precedes is problematic. The point seems to be that Judah’s impending doom does not bring God joy. Rather the prospect of their suffering stirs within him a willingness to show mercy and compassion, if they are willing to seek him on his terms.
5 tn Heb “Blessed are all who wait for him.”
6 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”
7 tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”
8 tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”
9 tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”
10 tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).
