Therefore may be translated “As a result” or “Because of that.”

All hands will be feeble describes figuratively the people’s reaction to the coming destruction. They will be unable to act because of fear. All hands refers to their power to act. The Hebrew verb translated be feeble literally means “to sink down.” It was used in 5.24 to describe the grass sinking down into the fire as the flames devoured it. Here it is a metaphor for powerlessness due to fear. Contemporary English Version adds a summarizing sentence at the beginning of this verse before it provides the details: “All people will be terrified.” This may be a good model to follow, if the imagery is not clear by itself.

And every man’s heart will melt: This is parallel to the first line, again expressing the people’s inability to act because of fear. The notion of the “heart melting” is a common biblical idiom for being overcome by a crippling fear or a failure of courage (Deut 1.28; 20.8; Josh 2.11). Some languages have an alternative image for this; for example, “all the people will lose heart,” “the hearts within all the people will beat,” or “the hearts of all the people will be discouraged.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “all men’s hearts shall sink.” Instead of heart, other languages will use another body part as part of the figure, such as the kidneys or the stomach. Good News Translation uses nonfigurative language, saying “everyone’s courage will fail.”

If a literal translation of the images in this verse will not be understood, we suggest the following models:

• As a result, everyone will be unable to do a thing; they will be utterly powerless because of their great fear.

• So no one will be able to do a thing; they will be overcome by fear.

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 .