Isaiah 45:1-3

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ¹  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ² 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ³ 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

45:2 “I will go before you

and level mountains. ⁴ 

Bronze doors I will shatter

and iron bars ⁵  I will hack through.

45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, ⁶ 

riches stashed away in secret places,

so you may recognize that I am the Lord,

the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.

Mark 10:21

10:21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money ⁷  to the poor, and you will have treasure ⁸  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

[45:1]  ¹ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ² sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ³ tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”

[45:2]  ⁴ tc The form הֲדוּרִים (hadurim) makes little, if any, sense here. It is probably a corruption of an original הָרָרִים (hararim, “mountains”), the reduplicated form of הָר (har, “mountain”).

[45:2]  ⁵ tn That is, on the gates. Cf. CEV “break the iron bars on bronze gates.”

[45:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”

[10:21]  ⁷ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[10:21]  ⁸ sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: You will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.