In the first half of this verse God gives his own response to the rhetorical questions in the previous verse. In this way he emphasizes that there is nothing the crooked lawmakers can do but submit to the coming judgment, for it is inescapable. They cannot escape the invading armies. They will be taken as captives or killed in battle.

Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners: There is a slight textual problem here. New English Bible gives the alternative reading with “so that they do not cower before the gaoler,” but Revised English Bible has “so that they do not cower among the prisoners.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rather firmly rejects the alternative reading, favoring Masoretic Text instead. The Hebrew is literally “not sink to one’s knees under [or, in place of] a prisoner.” The initial negative word restricts the conditions mentioned in the previous clause at the end of verse 3. BDB calls the negative here a conjunction with the meaning “except” or “save that.” It may be rendered “All you can do is” or “There is nothing more you can do than.” For the whole line Bible en français courant has “There is only left for you to bow down among the prisoners.” Good News Translation simply has “dragged off as prisoners” (mentioned, in logical order, after the possibility of death in battle).

The verb crouch refers to falling down or kneeling before someone. New International Version suggests “cringe,” a verb that conveys well the sense in the context. It is parallel to the following verb fall. The cringing will be done among prisoners. These prisoners are those who have been taken captive in battle, not those who are imprisoned for some crime. It may be necessary to clarify this by saying “captives” (New International Version).

Or fall among the slain: This line is parallel to the previous one. It gives the other possible fate for the unjust judges. Some of them will fall, that is, die in battle, along with others who are slain. “Battle” may be made explicit (so Good News Translation), but it may also be left unstated. For this line Bible en français courant has “or fall among the dead.”

In the first two lines the Hebrew text uses a preposition that means “under” or “in the place of.” New American Bible says “beneath the captive” and “beneath the slain” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). However, most versions take the meaning “in the place of,” which is usually rendered as “among” (Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

This verse closes with the statement found in 9.12, 17 and 21. Translators should keep the same translation in each case to emphasize the structure of the section.

Translation examples for the first two lines of this verse are:

• There is nothing for you but to cringe with the captives,
to die with those killed in battle.

• Your only course is to join the captives
or die in battle with the others.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .