Isaiah 49:7-8

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector ¹  of Israel, their Holy One, ²  says

to the one who is despised ³  and rejected ⁴  by nations, ⁵ 

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect, ⁶ 

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you ⁷  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ⁸ 

to rebuild ⁹  the land ¹⁰ 

and to reassign the desolate property.

Isaiah 50:4-9

The Servant Perseveres

50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, ¹¹ 

so that I know how to help the weary. ¹² 

He wakes me up every morning;

he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. ¹³ 

50:5 The sovereign Lord has spoken to me clearly; ¹⁴ 

I have not rebelled,

I have not turned back.

50:6 I offered my back to those who attacked, ¹⁵ 

my jaws to those who tore out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from insults and spitting.

50:7 But the sovereign Lord helps me,

so I am not humiliated.

For that reason I am steadfastly resolved; ¹⁶ 

I know I will not be put to shame.

50:8 The one who vindicates me is close by.

Who dares to argue with me? Let us confront each other! ¹⁷ 

Who is my accuser? ¹⁸  Let him challenge me! ¹⁹ 

50:9 Look, the sovereign Lord helps me.

Who dares to condemn me?

Look, all of them will wear out like clothes;

a moth will eat away at them.

John 16:32

16:32 Look, a time ²⁰  is coming – and has come – when you will be scattered, each one to his own home, ²¹  and I will be left alone. ²²  Yet ²³  I am not alone, because my Father ²⁴  is with me.

[49:7]  ¹ tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:7]  ² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[49:7]  ³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a לבזוי, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, לִבְזוּי (livzuy, “to the one despised with respect to life” [נֶפֶשׁ is a genitive of specification]). The consonantal sequence וי was probably misread as ה in the MT tradition. The contextual argument favors the 1QIsa^a reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”

[49:7]  ⁴ tn MT’s Piel participle (“to the one who rejects”) does not fit contextually. The form should be revocalized as a Pual, “to the one rejected.”

[49:7]  ⁵ tn Parallelism (see “rulers,” “kings,” “princes”) suggests that the singular גּוֹי (goy) be emended to a plural or understood in a collective sense (see 55:5).

[49:7]  ⁶ tn For this sense of קוּם (qum), see Gen 19:1; 23:7; 33:10; Lev 19:32; 1 Sam 20:41; 25:41; 1 Kgs 2:19; Job 29:8.

[49:8]  ⁷ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).

[49:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.

[49:8]  ⁹ tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”

[49:8]  ¹⁰ tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.

[50:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”

[50:4]  ¹² tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.

[50:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”

[50:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps, “makes me obedient.” The text reads literally, “has opened for me an ear.”

[50:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or perhaps, “who beat [me].”

[50:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Therefore I set my face like flint.”

[50:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Let us stand together!”

[50:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Who is the master of my judgment?”

[50:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “let him approach me”; NAB, NIV “Let him confront me.”

[16:32]  ²⁰ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:32]  ²¹ tn Grk “each one to his own”; the word “home” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The phrase “each one to his own” may be completed in a number of different ways: “each one to his own property”; “each one to his own family”; or “each one to his own home.” The last option seems to fit most easily into the context and so is used in the translation.

[16:32]  ²² sn The proof of Jesus’ negative evaluation of the disciples’ faith is now given: Jesus foretells their abandonment of him at his arrest, trials, and crucifixion (I will be left alone). This parallels the synoptic accounts in Matt 26:31 and Mark 14:27 when Jesus, after the last supper and on the way to Gethsemane, foretold the desertion of the disciples as a fulfillment of Zech 13:7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Yet although the disciples would abandon Jesus, he reaffirmed that he was not alone, because the Father was still with him.

[16:32]  ²³ tn Grk “And” (but with some contrastive force).

[16:32]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the Father.”