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Isaiah 49:6-8
New English Translation
Isaiah 49:6-8
New English Translation
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[a] of Israel?[b]
I will make you a light to the nations,[c]
so you can bring[d] my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
7 This is what the Lord,
the Protector[e] of Israel, their Holy One,[f] says
to the one who is despised[g] and rejected[h] by nations,[i]
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise in respect,[j]
princes will bow down,
because of the faithful Lord,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
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[k] and make you a covenant mediator for people,[l]
to rebuild[m] the land[n]
and to reassign the desolate property.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:6 tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”
- Isaiah 49:6 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.
- Isaiah 49:6 tn See the note at 42:6.
- Isaiah 49:6 tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”
- Isaiah 49:7 tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
- Isaiah 49:7 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
- Isaiah 49:7 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa 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 1QIsaa reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”
- Isaiah 49:7 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.”
- Isaiah 49:7 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).
- Isaiah 49:7 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.
- Isaiah 49:8 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”).
- Isaiah 49:8 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (berit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (ʿam, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.
- Isaiah 49:8 tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”
- Isaiah 49:8 tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.
Isaiah 49:6-8
New International Version
Isaiah 49:6-8
New International Version
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant(A)
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.(B)
I will also make you a light(C) for the Gentiles,(D)
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”(E)
7 This is what the Lord says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel(F)—
to him who was despised(G) and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings(H) will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,(I)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,(J)
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen(K) you.”
Restoration of Israel
8 This is what the Lord says:
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