43:5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
From the east I will bring your descendants;
from the west I will gather you.
45:6 I do this 1 so people 2 will recognize from east to west
that there is no God but me;
I am the Lord, I have no peer.
41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? 3
Who 4 officially commissions him for service? 5
He hands nations over to him, 6
and enables him to subdue 7 kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow. 8
41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north 9 and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. 10
He steps on 11 rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
46:11 who summons an eagle 12 from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed, 13
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
1 tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”
1 sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).
2 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.
3 tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”
4 tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”
5 tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).
6 sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.
1 sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.
2 tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”
3 tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (vÿyavo’, “and he comes”), but this is likely a corruption of an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).
1 tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
2 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”