Isaiah 30:28-30

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 30:28 tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.
2. Isaiah 30:28 tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shav^eʾ, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.
3. Isaiah 30:28 tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to a horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.
4. Isaiah 30:29 tn Heb “[you will have] joy of heart, like the one going with a flute to enter the mountain of the Lord to the Rock of Israel.” The image here is not a foundational rock, but a rocky cliff where people could hide for protection (for example, the fortress of Masada).
5. Isaiah 30:30 tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”
6. Isaiah 30:30 tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”
7. Isaiah 30:30 tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”