Isaiah 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ¹ 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ² 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ³ 

Psalms 46:10

46:10 He says, ⁴  “Stop your striving and recognize ⁵  that I am God!

I will be exalted ⁶  over ⁷  the nations! I will be exalted over ⁸  the earth!”

Habakkuk 2:20

2:20 But the Lord is in his majestic palace. ⁹ 

The whole earth is speechless in his presence!” ¹⁰ 

Zechariah 2:13

2:13 Be silent in the Lord’s presence, all people everywhere, ¹¹  for he is being moved to action in his holy dwelling place. ¹² 

[49:1]  ¹ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  ² tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ³ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”

[46:10]  ⁴ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[46:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “do nothing/be quiet (see 1 Sam 15:16) and know.” This statement may be addressed to the hostile nations, indicating they should cease their efforts to destroy God’s people, or to Judah, indicating they should rest secure in God’s protection. Since the psalm is an expression of Judah’s trust and confidence, it is more likely that the words are directed to the nations, who are actively promoting chaos and are in need of a rebuke.

[46:10]  ⁶ tn Elsewhere in the psalms the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”) when used of God, refers to his exalted position as king (Pss 18:46; 99:2; 113:4; 138:6) and/or his self-revelation as king through his mighty deeds of deliverance (Pss 21:13; 57:5, 11).

[46:10]  ⁷ tn Or “among.”

[46:10]  ⁸ tn Or “in.”

[2:20]  ⁹ tn Or “holy temple.” The Lord’s heavenly palace, rather than the earthly temple, is probably in view here (see Ps 11:4; Mic 1:2-3). The Hebrew word ֹקדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holy”) here refers to the sovereign transcendence associated with his palace.

[2:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Be quiet before him, all the earth!”

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all flesh”; NAB, NIV “all mankind.”

[2:13]  ¹² sn The sense here is that God in heaven is about to undertake an occupation of his earthly realm (v. 12) by restoring his people to the promised land.