49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,
to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the remnant 4 of Israel? 5
I will make you a light to the nations, 6
so you can bring 7 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
9:28 Then, 8 after he went into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 9:29 He told them, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” 9
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “You have made difficult [your] request.”
3 tn Heb “and this is easy in the eyes of the
4 tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”
5 sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.
6 tn See the note at 42:6.
7 tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”
8 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
9 tc Most witnesses, even early and excellent ones (Ì45vid א2 A C D L W Θ Ψ Ë1,13 33 Ï lat co), have “and fasting” (καὶ νηστείᾳ, kai nhsteia) after “prayer” here. But this seems to be a motivated reading, due to the early church’s emphasis on fasting (TCGNT 85; cf., e.g., 2 Clem. 16:4; Pol. Phil 7:2; Did. 1:3; 7:4). That the most important witnesses (א* B), as well as a few others (0274 2427 k), lack καὶ νηστείᾳ, when a good reason for the omission is difficult to find, argues strongly for the shorter reading.
10 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
11 tn Or “will do.”
12 tn Grk “the works.”
13 tn Or “that I do.”
14 tn Or “will do.”
15 tn Grk “greater works.”