Isaiah 40:9

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹ 

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

Isaiah 41:27

41:27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ ² 

I sent a herald to Jerusalem. ³ 

Isaiah 45:22

45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, ⁴ 

all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!

For I am God, and I have no peer.

John 1:29

1:29 On the next day John ⁵  saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God ⁶  who takes away the sin of the world!

[40:9]  ¹ tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.

[41:27]  ² tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[41:27]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[45:22]  ⁴ tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”

[1:29]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:29]  ⁶ sn Gen 22:8 is an important passage in the background of the title Lamb of God as applied to Jesus. In Jewish thought this was held to be a supremely important sacrifice. G. Vermès stated: “For the Palestinian Jew, all lamb sacrifice, and especially the Passover lamb and the Tamid offering, was a memorial of the Akedah with its effects of deliverance, forgiveness of sin and messianic salvation” (Scripture and Tradition in Judaism [StPB], 225).