22:27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him! 1
Let all the nations 2 worship you! 3
22:28 For the Lord is king 4
and rules over the nations.
98:2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver; 5
in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.
98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. 6
All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. 7
42:1 8 “Here is my servant whom I support,
my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.
I have placed my spirit on him;
he will make just decrees 9 for the nations. 10
42:2 He will not cry out or shout;
he will not publicize himself in the streets. 11
42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,
a dim wick he will not extinguish; 12
he will faithfully make just decrees. 13
42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed 14
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands 15 will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” 16
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 17 of Israel? 18
I will make you a light to the nations, 19
so you can bring 20 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
52:10 The Lord reveals 21 his royal power 22
in the sight of all the nations;
the entire 23 earth sees
our God deliver. 24
28:28 “Therefore be advised 49 that this salvation from God 50 has been sent to the Gentiles; 51 they 52 will listen!”
10:18 But I ask, have they 53 not heard? 54 Yes, they have: 55 Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. 56
1 tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the
2 tn Heb “families of the nations.”
3 tn Heb “before you.”
4 tn Heb “for to the
5 tn Heb “makes known his deliverance.”
6 tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”
7 tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).
8 sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.
9 tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).
10 sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.
11 tn Heb “he will not cause his voice to be heard in the street.”
12 sn The “crushed reed” and “dim wick” symbolize the weak and oppressed who are on the verge of extinction.
13 tn Heb “faithfully he will bring out justice” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
14 tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.
15 tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”
16 tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).
17 tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”
18 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.
19 tn See the note at 42:6.
20 tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”
21 tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”
22 tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.
23 tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.
24 tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.
25 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
26 tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”
27 tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).
28 tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).
29 sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).
30 tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).
31 sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).
32 tn Or “islands” (NIV).
33 sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.
34 tn Or “preached,” “announced.”
35 sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta eqnh) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.
36 sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.
37 sn You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.
38 tn Or “to the ends.”
39 tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.
40 tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.
41 tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”
42 tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.
43 sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.
44 tn Here οὕτως (Joutws) is taken to refer to what follows, the content of the quotation, as given for this verse by BDAG 742 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως 2.
45 tn BDAG 1004 s.v. τίθημι 3.a has “τιθέναι τινὰ εἴς τι place/appoint someone to or for (to function as) someth….Ac 13:47.” This is a double accusative construction of object (“you”) and complement (“a light”).
46 sn Paul alludes here to the language of the Servant in Isaiah, pointing to Isa 42:6; 49:6. He and Barnabas do the work of the Servant in Isaiah.
47 tn Grk “that you should be for salvation,” but more simply “to bring salvation.”
48 sn An allusion to Isa 42:6 and 49:6. The expression the ends of the earth recalls Luke 3:6 and Acts 1:8. Paul sees himself and Barnabas as carrying out the commission of Luke 24:27. (See 2 Cor 6:2, where servant imagery also appears concerning Paul’s message.)
49 tn Grk “Therefore let it be known to you.”
50 tn Or “of God.”
51 sn The term Gentiles is in emphatic position in the Greek text of this clause. Once again there is the pattern: Jewish rejection of the gospel leads to an emphasis on Gentile inclusion (Acts 13:44-47).
52 tn Grk “they also.”
53 tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).
54 tn Grk “they have not ‘not heard,’ have they?” This question is difficult to render in English. The basic question is a negative sentence (“Have they not heard?”), but it is preceded by the particle μή (mh) which expects a negative response. The end result in English is a double negative (“They have not ‘not heard,’ have they?”). This has been changed to a positive question in the translation for clarity. See BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion.
55 tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mh) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.
56 sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.
57 tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”
58 tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.