Isaiah 40:2

40:2 “Speak kindly to ¹  Jerusalem, ²  and tell her

that her time of warfare is over, ³ 

that her punishment is completed. ⁴ 

For the Lord has made her pay double ⁵  for all her sins.”

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ⁶  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ⁷ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ⁸ 

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ⁹  me. ¹⁰ 

He has commissioned ¹¹  me to encourage ¹²  the poor,

to help ¹³  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

[40:2]  ¹ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

[40:2]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[40:2]  ³ tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

[40:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

[40:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).

[57:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[61:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ¹² sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ¹³ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”