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 1 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 2
to rebuild 3 the land 4
and to reassign the desolate property.
58:2 They seek me day after day;
they want to know my requirements, 5
like a nation that does what is right
and does not reject the law of their God.
They ask me for just decrees;
they want to be near God.
66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country 6 be brought forth in one day?
Can a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!
1 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”).
2 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.
3 tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”
4 tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.
5 tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”
9 tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).