Discovery BoxIsaiah 9:19 
Context9:19 Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, 1
and the people became fuel for the fire. 2
People had no compassion on one another. 3
Isaiah 14:1
Context14:1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; 4 he will again choose Israel as his special people 5 and restore 6 them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family 7 of Jacob.
Isaiah 27:11
Context27:11 When its branches get brittle, 8 they break;
women come and use them for kindling. 9
For these people lack understanding, 10
therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them;
the one who formed them has no mercy on them.
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. 11
Indeed, the Lord is a just God;
all who wait for him in faith will be blessed. 12
Isaiah 49:10
Context49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;
the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, 13
for one who has compassion on them will guide them;
he will lead them to springs of water.
Isaiah 54:10
Context54:10 Even if the mountains are removed
and the hills displaced,
my devotion will not be removed from you,
nor will my covenant of friendship 14 be displaced,”
says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 60:10
Context60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls;
their kings will serve you.
Even though I struck you down in my anger,
I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. 15
1 tn The precise meaning of the verb עְתַּם (’ÿtam), which occurs only here, is uncertain, though the context strongly suggests that it means “burn, scorch.”
2 sn The uncontrollable fire of the people’s wickedness (v. 18) is intensified by the fire of the Lord’s judgment (v. 19). God allows (or causes) their wickedness to become self-destructive as civil strife and civil war break out in the land.
3 tn Heb “men were not showing compassion to their brothers.” The idiom “men to their brothers” is idiomatic for reciprocity. The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite without vav (ו) consecutive or an imperfect used in a customary sense, describing continual or repeated behavior in past time.
4 tn The sentence begins with כִּי (ki), which is understood as asseverative (“certainly”) in the translation. Another option is to translate, “For the Lord will have compassion.” In this case one of the reasons for Babylon’s coming demise (13:22b) is the Lord’s desire to restore his people.
5 tn The words “as his special people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
6 tn Or “settle” (NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT).
7 tn Heb “house.”
8 tn Heb “are dry” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
9 tn Heb “women come [and] light it.” The city is likened to a dead tree with dried up branches that is only good for firewood.
10 tn Heb “for not a people of understanding [is] he.”
11 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.
12 tn Heb “Blessed are all who wait for him.”
13 tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”
14 tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”
15 tn Heb “in my favor I will have compassion on you.”
