34:18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he delivers 3 those who are discouraged. 4
51:17 The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit 5 –
O God, a humble and repentant heart 6 you will not reject. 7
57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,
the one who rules 8 forever, whose name is holy:
“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,
but also with the discouraged and humiliated, 9
in order to cheer up the humiliated
and to encourage the discouraged. 10
66:2 My hand made them; 11
that is how they came to be,” 12 says the Lord.
I show special favor 13 to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say. 14
1 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”
2 tn Heb “how I said concerning this place and its residents to become [an object of] horror and [an example of] a curse.” The final phrase (“horror and a curse”) refers to Judah becoming a prime example of an accursed people. In curse formulations they would be held up as a prime example of divine judgment. For an example of such a curse, see Jer 29:22.
3 tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the
4 tn Heb “the crushed in spirit.”
5 tn Heb “a broken spirit.”
6 tn Heb “a broken and crushed heart.”
7 tn Or “despise.”
8 tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.
9 tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.
10 tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”
11 tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.
12 tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”
13 tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).
14 tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”
15 tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”
16 tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.