2:8 Ask me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, 1
the ends of the earth as your personal property.
2:9 You will break them 2 with an iron scepter; 3
you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” 4
20:4 May he grant your heart’s desire; 5
may he bring all your plans to pass! 6
20:5 Then we will shout for joy over your 7 victory;
we will rejoice 8 in the name of our God!
May the Lord grant all your requests!
92:11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me; 9
I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me. 10
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 11 of Israel? 12
I will make you a light to the nations, 13
so you can bring 14 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
49:7 This is what the Lord,
the protector 15 of Israel, their Holy One, 16 says
to the one who is despised 17 and rejected 18 by nations, 19
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise in respect, 20
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 21 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 22
to rebuild 23 the land 24
and to reassign the desolate property.
49:9 You will say 25 to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
and to those who are in dark dungeons, 26 ‘Emerge.’ 27
They will graze beside the roads;
on all the slopes they will find pasture.
49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;
the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, 28
for one who has compassion on them will guide them;
he will lead them to springs of water.
49:11 I will make all my mountains into a road;
I will construct my roadways.”
49:12 Look, they come from far away!
Look, some come from the north and west,
and others from the land of Sinim! 29
1 sn I will give you the nations. The
2 tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.
3 tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.
4 sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.
5 tn Heb “may he give to you according to your heart.” This probably refers to the king’s prayer for protection and victory in battle. See vv. 5-6.
6 sn May he bring all your plans to pass. This probably refers to the king’s strategy for battle.
7 sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).
8 tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נגיל (“we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).
9 tn Heb “my eye gazes upon those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2. The form שׁוּרָי (shuray) should be emended to שׁוֹרְרָי (shorÿray).
10 tn Heb “those who rise up against me, evil [foes], my ears hear.”
11 tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”
12 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.
13 tn See the note at 42:6.
14 tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”
15 tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
16 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
17 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.”
18 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.”
19 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).
20 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.
21 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”).
22 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.
23 tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”
24 tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.
25 tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.
26 tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”
27 tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).
28 tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”
29 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).