OET interlinear ISA 40:24

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns

אַ֣ף בַּל נִטָּ֗עוּ

also/though hardly planted

The pronoun they refers to the princes and judges mentioned in the previous verse. It may be helpful to clarify this for your readers. Alternate translation: [Indeed, the princes and judges are not planted]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

בַּל נִטָּ֗עוּ אַ֚ף בַּל זֹרָ֔עוּ אַ֛ף בַּל שֹׁרֵ֥שׁ בָּ⁠אָ֖רֶץ גִּזְעָ֑⁠ם

hardly planted also/though hardly sown also/though hardly taken_root on_the=earth rootstock_of,their

Here the speaker is speaking of rulers as if they were freshly planted seedlings that have barely taken root and can be easily destroyed. Your language may have a comparable expression that you can use in your translation, or you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [they are barely established; indeed, they are not secure; indeed, they have no firm foundation in the earth]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

בַּל נִטָּ֗עוּ

hardly planted

The expression are not planted is a passive verbal form. If it would be unnatural to use that form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [they did not get planted]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

בַּל זֹרָ֔עוּ

hardly hardly sown

The expression are not sown is a passive verbal form. If it would be unnatural to use that form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [no one has sown them]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

נָשַׁ֤ף בָּ⁠הֶם֙ וַ⁠יִּבָ֔שׁוּ

blows (is)_in=them and,they_have_dried_up

The speaker speaks of the rulers as if they were plants on which Yahweh blows so that they dry up. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [he breathes on them and they perish]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / simile

וּ⁠סְעָרָ֖ה כַּ⁠קַּ֥שׁ תִּשָּׂאֵֽ⁠ם

and,a_tempest like,chaff it,carries_them_off

The point of this comparison is that just as straw is light and easily blown away, so easily does a whirlwind sweep the rulers away. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this point explicitly. Alternate translation: [and a whirlwind carries them away as easily as it carries away straw]

אַ֣ף בַּל־נִטָּ֗עוּ אַ֚ף בַּל־זֹרָ֔עוּ אַ֛ף בַּל־שֹׁרֵ֥שׁ בָּ⁠אָ֖רֶץ גִּזְעָ֑⁠ם

also/though hardly planted also/though hardly sown also/though hardly taken_root on_the=earth rootstock_of,their

See how your translation team has decided to represent pairs of clauses in Hebrew poetry that mean basically the same thing. Alternate translation: [Truly, those people are not securely rooted]