40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!
Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! 2
Shout, don’t be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
41:27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ 3
I sent a herald to Jerusalem. 4
52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains 5
the feet of a messenger who announces peace,
a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 6
61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen 7 me. 8
He has commissioned 9 me to encourage 10 the poor,
to help 11 the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners,
1 tn That is, Jesus. This pronoun is in emphatic position in the Greek text. Following this phrase in the Greek text is the pronoun ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”), so that the emphasis for the audience is that “through Jesus to you” these promises have come.
2 tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.
3 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”
6 tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.
7 tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.
8 sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).
9 tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”
10 tn Or “proclaim good news to.”
11 tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”
12 tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
13 tn Grk “the one who is standing before God.”
14 tn Grk “to announce these things of good news to you.”
15 tn Grk “behold.”
16 tn Grk “I evangelize to you great joy.”
17 tn The word in this context seems to mean “coming at the right or opportune time” (see BDAG 1103 s.v. ὡραῖος 1); it may also mean “beautiful, attractive, welcome.”
18 tn Grk “the feet.” The metaphorical nuance of “beautiful feet” is that such represent timely news.
19 sn A quotation from Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15.