This verse has two primary literary features. First, it uses two parallel rhetorical questions. Second, each question uses one root word three times. The root words are “smite/strike” and “slay/kill.” The first question has active verbs, with Yahweh as the subject for the first two verbs. In the second question the verbs are passive, with Yahweh as the implied agent. The pronouns them, they and their refer to Israel, while those points to its enemies.

There are several possible interpretations for this verse. The rhetorical questions ask whether Yahweh dealt with the Israelites in the same way as he dealt with those who attacked them. According to Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, the implied answer to these questions is “No!” For these versions Yahweh punished them less than their enemies by sending them into exile. There is another possible sense with “No” as the implied answer, but it is less likely: Yahweh punished the Israelites more by sending them into exile. For some commentators the implied answer is “Yes!” The exile of the Israelites proves that Yahweh punished them and their enemies in the same way. Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and Revised English Bible keep the ambiguity of this verse, since there is no scholarly consensus concerning its meaning. If translators cannot do this, they may follow Good News Translation as a model.

Has he smitten them as he smote those who smote them?: Good News Translation makes the pronouns he and them explicit with “the LORD” and “Israel” respectively, which we recommend at the beginning of this subsection. Alternative verbs for “smite” are “punish” (so Good News Translation) and “strike.” For this verb see the comments on 5.25. Revised Standard Version repeats it three times to reflect the Hebrew text. If such verbal repetition is awkward or unclear in the receptor language, translators may use synonymous verbs where available. This is also true for the next line.

Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain?: Dead Sea Scrolls uses active verbs here to balance the verbs in the previous question, saying “Has he slain them as he slew those who slew them?” Languages that prefer active verbs may use this as a model.

Some translation examples for this verse are:

• Has Yahweh struck the Israelites as he struck those who struck them?
Or have they been killed as he killed those who killed them?

• Has Yahweh struck Israel as much as he struck those who struck it?
Or has he killed its people as much as he killed those who killed them?

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 .