23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre, 1
whose merchants are princes,
whose traders are the dignitaries 2 of the earth?
49:7 This is what the Lord,
the protector 3 of Israel, their Holy One, 4 says
to the one who is despised 5 and rejected 6 by nations, 7
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise in respect, 8
princes will bow down,
because of the faithful Lord,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
1 tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.
2 tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”
3 tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
4 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
5 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa לבזוי, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, לִבְזוּי (livzuy, “to the one despised with respect to life” [נֶפֶשׁ is a genitive of specification]). The consonantal sequence וי was probably misread as ה in the MT tradition. The contextual argument favors the 1QIsaa reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”
6 tn MT’s Piel participle (“to the one who rejects”) does not fit contextually. The form should be revocalized as a Pual, “to the one rejected.”
7 tn Parallelism (see “rulers,” “kings,” “princes”) suggests that the singular גּוֹי (goy) be emended to a plural or understood in a collective sense (see 55:5).
8 tn For this sense of קוּם (qum), see Gen 19:1; 23:7; 33:10; Lev 19:32; 1 Sam 20:41; 25:41; 1 Kgs 2:19; Job 29:8.