41:13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise 5
in the future and forevermore! 6
We agree! We agree! 7
106:48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise, 8
in the future and forevermore. 9
Let all the people say, “We agree! 10 Praise the Lord!” 11
60:15 You were once abandoned
and despised, with no one passing through,
but I will make you 12 a permanent source of pride
and joy to coming generations.
60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor 13 of the Lord shines on you!
1:17 Learn to do what is right!
Promote justice!
Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! 14
Take up the cause of the orphan!
Defend the rights of the widow! 15
1 tn Grk “which.” Verse 5 is technically a relative clause, subordinate to the thought of v. 4.
2 tn Grk “the sons of men” (a Semitic idiom referring to human beings, hence, “people”).
3 tn Grk “other.”
4 tn Or “in.”
5 tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.
6 tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.” See 1 Chr 16:36; Neh 9:5; Pss 90:2; 106:48.
7 tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.
8 tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.
9 tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.”
10 tn Heb “surely” (אָמֵן, ’amen), traditionally transliterated “amen.”
11 sn The final verse (v. 48) is a conclusion to this fourth “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the first, second and third “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52, respectively).
12 tn Heb “Instead of your being abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you.”
13 tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).
14 tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The translation assumes an emendation of חָמוֹץ (khamots, “oppressor [?]”) to חָמוּץ (khamuts, “oppressed”), a passive participle from II חָמַץ (khamats, “oppress”; HALOT 329 s.v. II חמץ) and takes the verb II אָשַׁר (’ashar) in the sense of “make happy” (the delocutive Piel, meaning “call/pronounce happy,” is metonymic here, referring to actually effecting happiness). The parallelism favors this interpretation, for the next two lines speak of positive actions on behalf of the destitute. The other option is to retain the MT pointing and translate, “set right the oppressor,” but the nuance “set right” is not clearly attested elsewhere for the verb I אשׁר. This verb does appear as a participle in Isa 3:12 and 9:16 with the meaning “to lead or guide.” If it can mean to “lead” or “rebuke/redirect” in this verse, the prophet could be contrasting this appeal for societal reformation (v. 17c) with a command to reorder their personal lives (v. 17a-b). J. A. Motyer (The Prophecy of Isaiah, 47) suggests that these three statements (v. 17a-c) provide “the contrast between the two ends of imperfect society, the oppressor and the needy, the one inflicting and the other suffering the hurt. Isaiah looks for a transformed society wherever it needs transforming.”
15 tn This word refers to a woman who has lost her husband, by death or divorce. The orphan and widow are often mentioned in the OT as epitomizing the helpless and impoverished who have been left without the necessities of life due to the loss of a family provider.