Judgment on Arrogance and Idolatry
Isaiah 2:7-22
Isa.2.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותמלא: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- ארצו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,ms
- כסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וזהב: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- קצה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לאצרתיו: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs+3ms
- ותמלא: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- ארצו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,ms
- סוסים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- קצה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- למרכבתיו: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs+3ms
Parallels
- 1 Kings 10:26-27 (verbal): Solomon's wealth and military resources—horses, chariots, abundant silver and gold—mirror the vocabulary and idea of a land filled with treasure and chariots.
- Ezekiel 27:24-25 (thematic): Description of a wealthy trading city (Tyre) whose commerce brings silver, gold, and merchandise by sea—parallels the image of plenitude of wealth through trade.
- Ezekiel 7:19 (thematic): Pronouncement that silver and gold cannot deliver in the day of wrath—connects to Isaiah's context where great wealth accompanies impending judgment.
- Isaiah 2:6 (structural): Immediate context: the preceding verse sets up the people's prosperity and corrupt practices, of which 2:7 (land full of silver/gold and horses/chariots) is a continuation.
Alternative generated candidates
- Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots.
- Their land shall be filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land shall be filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.
Isa.2.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותמלא: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- ארצו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,ms
- אלילים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- למעשה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ידיו: NOUN,f,pl,abs,suff:3,m,sg
- ישתחוו: VERB,hithpael,imperfect,3,m,pl
- לאשר: CONJ
- עשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אצבעתיו: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3ms
Parallels
- Isaiah 44:9-20 (verbal): Extended prophetic satire against craftsmen who fashion idols and then worship their own handiwork—same motif and close verbal echoes within Isaiah's oracle tradition.
- Psalm 115:4-8 (verbal): Explicit description of idols made by human hands that cannot speak or act, and of those who make and trust them—direct verbal/thematic parallel to worshipping what one's own fingers have made.
- Psalm 135:15-18 (verbal): Parallel catalog of idols as creations of human hands that cannot move or speak, concluding that their makers become like them—reinforces Isaiah's critique of hand-made idols.
- Jeremiah 10:3-5 (thematic): Condemns idolatrous customs and describes idols as cut and formed from wood—the prophet contrasts human-made images with the living God, echoing Isaiah's denunciation of hand-crafted objects of worship.
- Habakkuk 2:18-19 (thematic): Rhetorical rebuke of making and trusting in an idol and of calling on images that cannot save—shares the theme of the absurdity and futility of bowing to what human hands have produced.
Alternative generated candidates
- Their land is full of idols—made by the handiwork of their hands; they bow down to what their own fingers have fashioned.
- Their land shall be filled with idols made by their own hands; they will bow down to the work of their own fingers.
Isa.2.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וישפל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- תשא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 2:11 (verbal): Immediate parallel in the same oracle — similar wording about men being humbled (ויתנשא אדם…וישפל איש), repeating the theme of human pride brought low.
- Isaiah 2:17 (verbal): Reiterates the motif and language of Isaiah 2:9 (the loftiness/arrogance of man bowed down), continuing the prophetic denunciation of human pride.
- Isaiah 3:16-17 (thematic): Another prophetic passage condemning the haughtiness of Zion’s inhabitants; God announces he will humble and punish proud women/people, echoing the theme of humiliation in Isaiah 2:9.
- Micah 4:11 (structural): Micah 4 parallels the larger Isaianic oracle about the mountain of the Lord and contains corresponding material about nations and the humiliation/judgment associated with Zion — a structural parallel to Isaiah 2’s theme of bringing down the proud.
- Obadiah 1:3-4 (thematic): Anticipates the same motif of proud nations or individuals being brought low (’though you set your nest high as the eagle…you will be brought down’), a short prophetic expression of the humiliation announced in Isaiah 2:9.
Alternative generated candidates
- Each person shall be humbled, every mortal brought low—do not exalt them.
- People shall be humbled, and mortal man shall be bowed down—do not lift them up.
Isa.2.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- בוא: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- בצור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והטמן: CONJ+VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- בעפר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מפני: PREP
- פחד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ומהדר: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גאנו: NOUN,m,sg,suff,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 2:19 (verbal): Immediate parallel in the same oracle: repeats the call to hide in caves and the dust 'for fear of the LORD and for the glory of his majesty.'
- Revelation 6:15-17 (thematic): People hide in caves and call to the rocks and mountains to hide them from the face of the One on the throne—echoes Isaiah’s image of hiding from the fear of the LORD and his majestic glory.
- Nahum 1:5-6 (thematic): Cosmic trembling before God and the question of who can stand before his indignation parallels Isaiah’s emphasis on terror before the LORD’s majesty.
- Joel 2:11 (verbal): The 'great and terrible day of the LORD' with the rhetorical 'who can stand?' parallels the theme of overwhelming fear before the Lord and his awesome glory.
Alternative generated candidates
- Enter the clefts of the rock and hide in the dust, from the dread of the LORD and from the splendor of his majesty.
- Go into the cleft of the rock and hide in the dust because of the dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty.
Isa.2.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- עיני: NOUN,f,pl,cons+1s
- גבהות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שפל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ושח: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- רום: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אנשים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ונשגב: CONJ+VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לבדו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
Parallels
- Obadiah 1:3-4 (thematic): Like Isa. 2:11, Obadiah condemns the pride of a nation and promises that lofty arrogance will be brought low—soaring pride overturned by divine judgment.
- Isaiah 13:11 (verbal): Isa. 13:11 speaks of God punishing the world and abasing the pomp of the arrogant—language close to Isa. 2:11’s motif of humbling human haughtiness.
- Micah 4:1-3 (structural): Micah 4 (especially vv.1–3) parallels the opening oracle of Isa. 2 about the mountain of the LORD and the eschatological day when human pride is put in its place; the two oracles form a paired prophetic tradition.
- Luke 14:11 (thematic): Jesus’ saying ‘Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted’ echoes the Isaianic theme that human pride will be humbled and only God exalted.
- 1 Peter 5:5 (thematic): ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’ reflects the same conviction as Isa. 2:11 that pride is opposed by God and humility is vindicated, culminating in God alone being exalted.
Alternative generated candidates
- The haughty eyes of man shall be humbled, and the proud spirit of men brought low; and the LORD alone shall be exalted on that day.
- The lofty eyes of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of mortals shall be bowed down; and the LORD alone shall be exalted on that day.
Isa.2.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- על: PREP
- כל: DET
- גאה: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ורם: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- נשא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ושפל: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 2:11 (verbal): Immediate verbal parallel within the same oracle: speaks of human haughtiness being humbled—same root idea and language about the proud being brought low.
- Isaiah 13:11 (thematic): Another prophetic 'day of the LORD' passage that announces punishment and the humbling of the arrogant and lofty—shares the theme of divine judgment against pride.
- Malachi 4:1 (thematic): Speaks of 'the day' that comes like a burning oven and will consume the arrogant and evildoers—parallel emphasis on a coming day of the LORD against the proud.
- Obadiah 1:3–4 (thematic): Condemns Edom’s pride and lofty attitude and foretells humiliation—connects the theme of lofty pride being judged and brought low (Obadiah 1:15 also invokes 'the day of the LORD').
- James 4:6 (thematic): New Testament theological parallel: 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,' echoing the principle that the lofty will be humbled under God's judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- For the day of the LORD of hosts is upon every proud and lofty one, and upon every high and exalted thing.
- For the day of the LORD of hosts is upon every proud and lofty thing, and upon every one that is lifted up and exalted.
Isa.2.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- ארזי: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- הלבנון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- הרמים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- והנשאים: CONJ+ADJ,m,pl,def
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- אלוני: NOUN,m,pl,constr
- הבשן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Ps.29:5 (verbal): Same image of divine action on Lebanon's cedars—'The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon' (judgment on the tall trees).
- Ezek.31:3-9 (thematic): Extended lament/comparison using cedars of Lebanon and other great trees to depict a lofty power brought low—similar motif of majestic trees felled.
- Isa.10:34 (verbal): Within Isaiah's judgment language Lebanon's tall trees are cut down—closely parallel phrasing and theme of God felling the cedars.
- Ps.92:12-14 (thematic): Uses 'cedar in Lebanon' imagery to portray strength and flourishing of the righteous—same tree symbol but in a positive/steadfast sense, providing a thematic contrast.
- Amos 2:9 (thematic): Describes peoples as tall 'like the height of the cedars,' employing the cedars-of-Lebanon motif to signify size/power that is vulnerable to divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- On all the lofty cedars of Lebanon, and on all the high oaks of Bashan;
- Upon every cedar of Lebanon, tall and lifted up, and upon every oak of Bashan;
Isa.2.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- ההרים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- הרמים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- הגבעות: NOUN,f,pl,def
- הנשאות: ADJ,f,pl,def
Parallels
- Isaiah 2:11 (structural): Immediate context: the proud and lofty are brought low—continues the theme of humbling ‘high’ things (including mountains and hills) in the day of the LORD.
- Micah 4:1-2 (thematic): Micah 4 echoes Isaiah 2’s mountain imagery (the mountain of the LORD) and the reshaping of high places under God’s dominion—parallel structural motif.
- Habakkuk 3:6 (verbal): Speaks of God making the mountains quake and ancient mountains tremble at his presence—similar language of mountains affected by the LORD’s action.
- Psalm 97:5 (verbal): Declares that mountains melt like wax before the LORD—comparable imagery of God’s power over high mountains and hills.
- Ezekiel 6:3-4 (thematic): Pronounces judgment on Israel’s high places and hills, making exalted sites desolate—shares the theme of lifting up/bringing down of high places.
Alternative generated candidates
- on all the high mountains and on all the elevated hills;
- upon every high mountain, and upon every lofty hill;
Isa.2.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- מגדל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גבה: ADJ,m,sg
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- חומה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בצורה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 2:11 (structural): Same prophetic oracle — both verses belong to the unit condemning human pride and foresee the humiliation of the haughty and their lofty structures.
- Jeremiah 51:58 (verbal): Speaks of Babylon’s “broad wall” and “high gates” being broken/burned — closely parallels the image of towers and fortified walls being brought low.
- Ezekiel 26:12 (thematic): God’s judgment against Tyre includes making its walls and towers a ruin — a parallel image of divine leveling of human fortifications.
- Habakkuk 2:16–19 (thematic): Pronounces shame and downfall on human pride, luxury, and idolatry; thematically parallels Isaiah’s depiction of lofty human confidence overturned.
- Nahum 3:7 (thematic): Describes the desolation and fleeing of a once‑mighty city (Nineveh) — mirrors the motif of fortified places and towers rendered powerless under divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- on every lofty tower and on every fortified wall;
- upon every lofty tower, and upon every fortified wall;
Isa.2.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- אניות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- תרשיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- שכיות: NOUN,f,pl,con
- החמדה: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Isaiah 23:1 (verbal): Uses the same phrase addressed to maritime vessels—'ships of Tarshish'—in a lament over Tyre's destruction, linking seafaring wealth and divine judgment.
- Ezekiel 27:25 (allusion): Lists Tarshish among Tyre's trading partners; echoes the association of Tarshish with long-distance maritime commerce and luxury goods.
- 1 Kings 10:22 (verbal): Describes the king's fleet as 'ships of Tarshish' bringing ivory, apes, and peacocks—paralleling Tarshish imagery as a symbol of royal maritime wealth.
- Jonah 1:3 (thematic): Refers to Tarshish as a distant sea-destination—reinforces the maritime motif and the idea of long-range seafaring vessels evoked in Isaiah 2:16.
Alternative generated candidates
- on all the ships of Tarshish and on every costly treasure.
- upon every ship of Tarshish, and upon all the prized vessels.
Isa.2.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ושח: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- גבהות: NOUN,f,pl,cs
- האדם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ושפל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- רום: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אנשים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ונשגב: VERB,niphal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לבדו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 2:12 (verbal): Same pericope: announces "the day of the LORD" that will humble the proud and lofty—directly parallels the humbling language and context of v.17.
- Isaiah 13:11 (thematic): Speaks of punishing the world and ending the arrogance of the proud—similar theme of God's action to abase human pride.
- Proverbs 29:23 (thematic): "A man's pride shall bring him low"—wisdom parallel that the proud are humiliated while the lowly are honored, echoing v.17's reversal.
- Isaiah 45:23 (thematic): God's decree that every knee shall bow and confess to him—resonates with v.17's assertion that the LORD alone will be exalted.
- Philippians 2:9-11 (allusion): NT fulfillment/theme: the exaltation to which every knee bows reflects the same motif of universal humbling of human pride and sole exaltation of the Lord (applied to Christ).
Alternative generated candidates
- The loftiness of man shall be brought low, and the pride of men shall be bowed down; and the LORD alone shall be exalted on that day.
- The haughtiness of man shall be humbled, the arrogance of mortals shall be brought low; and the LORD alone shall be exalted on that day.
Isa.2.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והאלילים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,def
- כליל: ADV
- יחלף: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Habakkuk 2:18-19 (verbal): Both passages denounce the worthlessness of idols in direct terms; Habakkuk 2:18–19 questions the profit of an idol and ridicules calling on a dead image, closely paralleling Isaiah’s assertion that idols will be utterly gone.
- Jeremiah 10:14-15 (thematic): Jeremiah depicts idols as lifeless products of craftsmen that bring shame—the same theme of idols’ impotence and ultimate worthlessness found in Isaiah 2:18.
- Psalm 135:15-18 (thematic): This Psalm mocks idols as silver and gold that cannot speak and says makers become like them, echoing Isaiah’s prediction that idols will be cut off and rendered null.
- Isaiah 2:20 (structural): Within the same pericope Isaiah 2:20 repeats and amplifies the theme that idols will be abolished—people hide from the LORD and 'idols will utterly pass away,' reinforcing 2:18.
- Romans 1:23-25 (allusion): Paul’s denunciation of exchanging God’s glory for images and worshiping created things resonates with the prophetic critique of idolatry and the futility of idols articulated in Isaiah 2:18.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the idols shall utterly pass away.
- The idols shall utterly pass away.
Isa.2.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובאו: VERB,qal,imp,2,mp
- במערות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- צרים: ADJ,m,pl
- ובמחלות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- עפר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מפני: PREP
- פחד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ומהדר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- גאונו: NOUN,m,sg,poss
- בקומו: NOUN,m,sg,poss
- לערץ: VERB,qal,inf
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Isaiah 2:10 (verbal): Uses the same hide-in-rocks imagery and explicitly links hiding to fear of the LORD’s terror, closely paralleling Isaiah 2:19’s language and motive.
- Isaiah 2:21 (verbal): Reiterates the motif of people entering clefts and holes of the rocks to hide from the terror of the LORD—part of the same prophetic unit and imagery.
- Revelation 6:15-17 (thematic): Describes kings and peoples hiding in caves and calling on the mountains to fall on them because of the great day of God’s wrath—echoes the motif of hiding from divine majesty and judgment.
- Nahum 1:5-6 (thematic): Portrays God’s presence as making mountains quake and the earth tremble so that people flee—shares the theme of God’s majestic action provoking terror and flight.
- Joel 2:10 (verbal): Speaks of the earth trembling and the heavens shaking before the LORD’s coming; parallels the language of God’s rising to shake the earth and the fear it produces.
Alternative generated candidates
- People will go into the clefts of the rocks and into the caves of the earth, because of the dread of the LORD and the glory of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.
- People will go into the clefts of the rocks and into the holes of the earth because of the dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.
Isa.2.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- ישליך: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- האדם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- אלילי: NOUN,m,pl,const
- כספו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m
- ואת: CONJ
- אלילי: NOUN,m,pl,const
- זהבו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- אשר: PRON,rel
- עשו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- להשתחות: INF,hitpael
- לחפר: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- פרות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ולעטלפים: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 44:9-20 (thematic): Extended satire on the folly of making and worshiping idols—craftsmen fashion images of wood/metal which cannot save, echoing the condemnation of silver and gold idols.
- Isaiah 46:6-7 (verbal): Speaks of those who carry and fashion gods of silver and gold and whose idols cannot speak or save—close verbal and thematic resonance with rejecting metal idols.
- Psalm 115:4-8 (verbal): Describes idols of silver and gold that have mouths but cannot speak and eyes but cannot see—parallels the impotence of manufactured gods and the call to abandon them.
- Psalm 135:15-18 (thematic): Portrays metal and wooden idols as powerless and made by human hands, highlighting the same critique of idols fashioned for worship.
- Acts 19:24-27 (thematic): Parallel in the New Testament: silversmiths make and sell shrines (idols) and resist the loss of pagan worship—connects to the social/economic reality behind making metal idols.
Alternative generated candidates
- On that day men will cast away their silver idols and their gold idols, which they made for themselves to worship; they will cast them to the moles and to the bats.
- On that day people will cast away their silver idols and their golden images—the things they made to bow down to—into the moles' holes and to the bats.
Isa.2.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לבוא: VERB,qal,inf
- בנקרות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- הצרים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- ובסעפי: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- הסלעים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- מפני: PREP
- פחד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ומהדר: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg
- גאונו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- בקומו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- לערץ: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Revelation 6:15-17 (verbal): People hide in caves and among rocks, begging the mountains to fall on them to escape divine wrath—direct echo of Isaiah’s image of entering rock clefts for fear of the LORD’s majestic coming.
- Habakkuk 3:6 (thematic): God ‘stood and shook the earth,’ making nations tremble and mountains quake—parallels Isaiah’s motif of the LORD arising to shake the earth and instill terror.
- Psalm 18:7-15 (thematic): Theophanic language of earth trembling, mountains shaking, and terrifying divine presence mirrors Isaiah’s portrayal of fear driving people into rocks and caves.
- Exodus 19:16-18 (structural): The Sinai theophany (thunder, smoke, the mountain quaking) models an earlier instance of awe and terror at God’s appearance similar to the reaction in Isaiah.
- Joel 2:10,31 (allusion): Joel’s day-of-the-LORD imagery—earth shaking, heavens trembling, a great/terrible day—resonates with Isaiah’s depiction of cosmic disturbance and fear at God’s coming.
Alternative generated candidates
- They will go into the clefts of the rocks and into the crevices of the cliffs, because of the dread of the LORD and the glory of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.
- They will go into the clefts of the rocks and into the fissures of the crags because of the dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.
Isa.2.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- חדלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- לכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- מן: PREP
- האדם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- נשמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- באפו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+pr:3,m
- כי: CONJ
- במה: PREP+PRON,interr
- נחשב: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 17:5 (thematic): An explicit admonition not to trust in human beings—parallels Isaiah’s command to ‘cease from man’ and the critique of reliance on mortals.
- Psalm 146:3-4 (verbal): Both passages warn against trusting princes/men and use the idea of breath leaving a man—when his breath departs he returns to the earth—emphasizing human frailty.
- Job 34:14-15 (verbal): Speaks of God withdrawing spirit/breath from man so that all flesh perishes; echoes Isaiah’s appeal to recognize the transience and unaccountability of mortal life.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 (structural): Describes the spirit returning to God and the body to dust at death, reinforcing the theme of human life as fleeting and insignificant compared with God.
- Psalm 39:5 (thematic): Reflects on the brevity and vanity of human life (‘every man at his best state is altogether vanity’), resonating with Isaiah’s rhetorical question about how man should be esteemed.
Alternative generated candidates
- Cease your reliance on man—whose breath is in his nostrils; for what is he to be esteemed?
- Cease regarding man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?
Its land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to its treasures; its land is full of horses, and there is no end to its chariots.
Its land is full of idols—works of men's hands; they bow down to what their fingers have made.
People shall be humbled, each one brought low; let no one exalt himself.
Enter into the rock and hide in the dust, for the fear of the LORD and the splendour of his majesty.
The haughty eye of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low; the LORD alone shall be exalted on that day.
For the day of the LORD of hosts is against every proud and lofty one, and against every one who is lifted up and exalted.
Against all the lofty cedars of Lebanon, and against all the oaks of Bashan;
against every high mountain and against every lofty hill;
against every lofty tower and against every fortified wall;
against every ship of Tarshish and against every costly craft;
the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the pride of men shall be brought low; the LORD alone shall be exalted on that day. And the idols shall be utterly abolished.
They shall enter the clefts of the rocks and the holes of the earth, for fear of the LORD and for the glory of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.
On that day people shall cast away their silver idols and their gold idols—the things they made to worship—and give them over to the moles and to the bats.
They shall go into the clefts of the rocks and into the fissures of the crags, for fear of the LORD and for the glory of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.
Put away your reliance on man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for what account is he?