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 39:3
Context39:3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.”
Isaiah 43:6
Context43:6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’
and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’
Bring my sons from distant lands,
and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,
Isaiah 46:11
Context46:11 who summons an eagle 4 from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed, 5
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
Isaiah 60:5
Context60:5 Then you will look and smile, 6
you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. 7
For the riches of distant lands 8 will belong to you
and the wealth of nations will come to you.
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 Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
5 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
6 tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”
8 tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.
