The thought of verse 23 continues here. The downfall of leaders is described further using the metaphor of young plants that wither. Good News Translation prefers a simile here by beginning with “They are like young plants…,” which is a helpful model.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth: The Hebrew expression rendered Scarcely refers to something that has just happened. It is repeated three times in these two lines for emphasis. Good News Translation renders it only once as “just,” so it loses the poetic buildup in this verse. New International Version keeps the emphasis by saying “No/no sooner” each time. For these two lines it has “No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground.”

Scarcely are they planted and scarcely sown are basically synonymous. The first clause refers to placing plants in soil, while the second one speaks of sowing seeds. Good News Translation combines them with “just set out.” For the poetic buildup here we advise translators to keep both clauses. If it is unnatural to refer to both planting and sowing when referring to the growth of the same plant, it may help to use the connector “or” between these two clauses, as in the first example below.

Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth refers to a slightly later moment in the growth process, the time when young seedlings establish themselves in the soil.

Bible en français courant begins the metaphor of plants in the second line by rendering the first two lines as “Barely are they [the leaders] in place, barely are they installed, barely have they taken root….” This is a valid model. Another possible model that uses short sentences is “These rulers resemble plants. These plants have just been planted; they have just been sown; they have just taken root.”

When he blows upon them, and they wither: This line completes the thought in the previous two lines. As soon as the young plants establish their roots, God blows on them and they dry up. The pronoun he refers to God, as in the previous two verses. The imagery of Yahweh breathing on plants with a hot breath recalls verses 6-8. It is a figure for God’s punishment of the leaders.

And the tempest carries them off like stubble: Once the plants have withered, a strong wind blows them away like straw. This imagery continues the idea of God’s sweeping punishment. A tempest is a powerful wind (see the comments on 28.2 even though a different Hebrew word is used there), not just a gentle breeze. Stubble is the useless and lightweight material that remains on the field after the harvest (see the comments on 5.24). Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version say “straw.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• These rulers are like plants.
Barely are they planted, or barely are they sown,
barely have they taken root in the ground,
before he blows on them, and they wither,
and a strong wind carries them off like straw.

• These rulers have barely been installed,
barely have they settled in,
as plants that have just taken root,
when he [or, the LORD] blows his hot breath upon them,
and they shrivel and are carried off by a strong storm wind.

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 .