Isaiah 14:18-20

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 14:18 sn It is unclear where the quotation of the kings, begun in v. 10b, ends. However, the reference to the “kings of the nations” in v. 18 (see also v. 9) seems to indicate that the quotation has ended at this point and that Israel’s direct taunt (cf. vv. 4b-10a) has resumed. In fact, the references to the “kings of the nations” may form a stylistic inclusio or frame around the quotation.
2. Isaiah 14:18 tc The phrase “all of them” does not appear in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.
3. Isaiah 14:18 sn This refers to the typically extravagant burial of kings.
4. Isaiah 14:18 tn Heb “house” (so KJV, ASV), but in this context a tomb is in view. Note the verb “lie down” in the preceding line and the reference to a “grave” in the next line.
5. Isaiah 14:19 tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”
6. Isaiah 14:19 tn Heb “are clothed with.”
7. Isaiah 14:19 tn Heb “those going down to.”
8. Isaiah 14:19 tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.
9. Isaiah 14:19 tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.
10. Isaiah 14:20 tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).