Isaiah 49:3-6

49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.” ¹ 

49:4 But I thought, ²  “I have worked in vain;

I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” ³ 

But the Lord will vindicate me;

my God will reward me. ⁴ 

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth ⁵  to be his servant –

he did this ⁶  to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored ⁷  in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength ⁸  –

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant ⁹  of Israel? ¹⁰ 

I will make you a light to the nations, ¹¹ 

so you can bring ¹²  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

[49:3]  ¹ sn This verse identifies the servant as Israel. This seems to refer to the exiled nation (cf. 41:8-9; 44:1-2, 21; 45:4; 48:20), but in vv. 5-6 this servant says he has been commissioned to reconcile Israel to God, so he must be distinct from the exiled nation. This servant is an ideal “Israel” who, like Moses of old, mediates a covenant for the nation (see v. 8), leads them out of bondage (v. 9a), and carries out God’s original plan for Israel by positively impacting the pagan nations (see v. 6b). By living according to God’s law, Israel was to be a model of God’s standards of justice to the surrounding nations (Deut 4:6-8). The sinful nation failed, but the servant, the ideal “Israel,” will succeed by establishing justice throughout the earth.

[49:4]  ² tn Or “said” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “I replied.”

[49:4]  ³ tn Heb “for nothing and emptiness.” Synonyms are combined to emphasize the common idea.

[49:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “But my justice is with the Lord, and my reward [or “wage”] with my God.”

[49:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:5]  ⁶ tn The words “he did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct of purpose is subordinated to the previous statement.

[49:5]  ⁷ tn The vav (ו) + imperfect is translated here as a result clause; one might interpret it as indicating purpose, “and so I might be honored.”

[49:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and my God is [perhaps, “having been”] my strength.” The disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) is interpreted here as indicating a causal circumstantial clause.

[49:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”

[49:6]  ¹⁰ sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.

[49:6]  ¹¹ tn See the note at 42:6.

[49:6]  ¹² tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”