42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;
all of them are trapped in pits 2
and held captive 3 in prisons.
They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;
they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” 4
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 5
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 6
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
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 7 of Israel? 8
I will make you a light to the nations, 9
so you can bring 10 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
49:7 This is what the Lord,
the protector 11 of Israel, their Holy One, 12 says
to the one who is despised 13 and rejected 14 by nations, 15
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise in respect, 16
princes will bow down,
because of the faithful Lord,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
49:8 This is what the Lord says:
“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;
in the day of deliverance I will help you;
I will protect you 17 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 18
to rebuild 19 the land 20
and to reassign the desolate property.
49:21 Then you will think to yourself, 21
‘Who bore these children for me?
I was bereaved and barren,
dismissed and divorced. 22
Who raised these children?
Look, I was left all alone;
where did these children come from?’”
49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;
I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
1 tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
2 tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).
3 tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”
4 tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”
3 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
4 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
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.”
5 tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
6 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
7 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.”
8 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.”
9 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).
10 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.
6 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).
7 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.
8 tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”
9 tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.
7 tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”
8 tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”