49:12 Look, they come from far away!
Look, some come from the north and west,
and others from the land of Sinim! 1
60:3 Nations come to your light,
kings to your bright light.
60:4 Look all around you! 2
They all gather and come to you –
your sons come from far away
and your daughters are escorted by guardians.
60:5 Then you will look and smile, 3
you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. 4
For the riches of distant lands 5 will belong to you
and the wealth of nations will come to you.
60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, 6
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
All the merchants of Sheba 7 will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing praises to the Lord. 8
60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. 9
They will go up on my altar acceptably, 10
and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.
60:8 Who are these who float along 11 like a cloud,
who fly like doves to their shelters? 12
60:9 Indeed, the coastlands 13 look eagerly for me,
the large ships 14 are in the lead,
bringing your sons from far away,
along with their silver and gold,
to honor the Lord your God, 15
the Holy One of Israel, 16 for he has bestowed honor on you.
60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls;
their kings will serve you.
Even though I struck you down in my anger,
I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. 17
1 tc The MT reads “Sinim” here; the Dead Sea Scrolls read “Syene,” a location in Egypt associated with modern Aswan. A number of recent translations adopt this reading: “Syene” (NAB, NRSV); “Aswan” (NIV); “Egypt” (NLT).
2 tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”
3 tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
4 tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”
5 tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.
6 tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”
7 tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”
8 tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”
9 tn Heb “will serve you,” i.e., be available as sacrifices (see the next line). Another option is to understood these “rams” as symbolic of leaders who will be subject to the people of Zion. See v. 10.
10 tc Heb “they will go up on acceptance [on] my altar.” Some have suggested that the preposition עַל (’al) is dittographic (note the preceding יַעֲלוּ [ya’alu]). Consequently, the form should be emended to לְרָצוֹן (lÿratson, “acceptably”; see BDB 953 s.v. רָצוֹן). However, the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has both לרצון followed by the preposition על, which would argue against deleted the preposition. As the above translation seeks to demonstrate, the preposition עַל (’al) indicates a norm (“in accordance with acceptance” or “acceptably”; IBHS 218 §11.2.13e, n. 111) and the “altar” functions as an objective accusative with a verb of motion (cf. Gen 49:4; Lev 2:2; Num 13:17; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:534, n. 14).
11 tn Heb “fly” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “fly along.”
12 tn Heb “to their windows,” i.e., to the openings in their coops. See HALOT 83 s.v. אֲרֻבָּה.
13 tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”
14 tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.
15 tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”
16 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
17 tn Heb “in my favor I will have compassion on you.”
18 tn Heb “on that day.” The descriptive phrase “of salvation” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
19 tc The LXX and Syriac have the 3rd person masculine singular suffix in both places (“his people” and “he will settle”; cf. NAB, TEV) in order to avoid the
20 sn This scene of universal and overwhelming attraction of the nations to Israel’s God finds initial fulfillment in the establishment of the church (Acts 2:5-11) but ultimate completion in the messianic age (Isa 45:14, 24; 60:14; Zech 14:16-21).
21 tn Or “who acknowledged the truth of.”
22 tn Grk “word.”
23 tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).
24 tn Or “were won over.”
25 tn Or “the favor.”
26 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.
27 tn Or “had heard.”
28 tn Or “word.”
29 tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.
30 tn Or “More and more believers were added to the Lord.”
31 tn Grk “kept on spreading”; the verb has been translated as a progressive imperfect.
32 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
33 tn Grk “a great multitude.”
34 tn Or “glorified.”
35 tn Grk “how many thousands there are among the Jews.”
36 tn Or “are all zealous for the law.” BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.β has “of thing…τοῦ νόμου an ardent observer of the law Ac 21:20.”
37 sn That is, the law of Moses. These Jewish Christians had remained close to their Jewish practices after becoming believers (1 Cor 7:18-19; Acts 16:3).