Isaiah 23:8

23:8 Who planned this for royal Tyre, ¹ 

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries ²  of the earth?

Isaiah 49:7

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector ³  of Israel, their Holy One, ⁴  says

to the one who is despised ⁵  and rejected ⁶  by nations, ⁷ 

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect, ⁸ 

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

[23:8]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of הַמַּעֲטִירָה (hamma’atirah) is uncertain. The form is a Hiphil participle from עָטַר (’atar), a denominative verb derived from עֲטָרָה (’atarah, “crown, wreath”). The participle may mean “one who wears a crown” or “one who distributes crowns.” In either case, Tyre’s prominence in the international political arena is in view.

[23:8]  ² tn Heb “the honored” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “renowned.”

[49:7]  ³ tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:7]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[49:7]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a 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 1QIsa^a reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”

[49:7]  ⁶ 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.”

[49:7]  ⁷ 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).

[49:7]  ⁸ 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.