Discovery BoxIsaiah 45:13-25
Context45:13 It is me – I stir him up and commission him; 1
I will make all his ways level.
He will rebuild my city;
he will send my exiled people home,
but not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
45:14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit 2 of Egypt and the revenue 3 of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you 4 and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. 5
They will bow down to you
and pray to you: 6
‘Truly God is with 7 you; he has no peer; 8
there is no other God!’”
45:15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,
O God of Israel, deliverer!
45:16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;
those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. 9
45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; 10
you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. 11
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 12
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 13
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place. 14
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’ 15
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements. 16
45:20 Gather together and come!
Approach together, you refugees from the nations!
Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,
those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! 17
Let them consult with one another!
Who predicted this in the past?
Who announced it beforehand?
Was it not I, the Lord?
I have no peer, there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers; 18
there is none but me.
45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, 19
all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!
For I am God, and I have no peer.
45:23 I solemnly make this oath 20 –
what I say is true and reliable: 21
‘Surely every knee will bow to me,
every tongue will solemnly affirm; 22
45:24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’” 23
All who are angry at him will cower before him. 24
45:25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord
and will boast in him. 25
[45:13] 1 tn Heb “I stir him up in righteousness”; NASB “I have aroused him.” See the note at 41:2. Cyrus (cf. 44:28) is in view here.
[45:14] 2 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
[45:14] 3 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
[45:14] 4 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
[45:14] 5 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
[45:14] 6 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
[45:14] 7 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
[45:14] 8 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.
[45:16] 9 tn “together they will walk in humiliation, the makers of images.”
[45:17] 10 tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”
[45:17] 11 tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”
[45:18] 12 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
[45:18] 13 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
[45:19] 14 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
[45:19] 15 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
[45:19] 16 tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”
[45:21] 17 tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.
[45:21] 18 tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”
[45:22] 19 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.”
[45:23] 20 tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”
[45:23] 21 tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”
[45:23] 22 tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”
[45:24] 23 tn Heb “‘Yes, in the Lord,’ one says about me, ‘is deliverance and strength.’”
[45:24] 24 tn Heb “will come to him and be ashamed.”
[45:25] 25 tn Heb “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be vindicated and boast.”
