Yesaya 41:21--42:9
Konteks41:21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence,” 1 says Jacob’s king. 2
41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, 3
so we may examine them 4 and see how they were fulfilled. 5
Or decree for us some future events!
41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, 6
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe. 7
41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. 8
41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north 9 and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. 10
He steps on 11 rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it 12 ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
41:27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ 13
I sent a herald to Jerusalem. 14
41:28 I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, 15
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance. 16
42:1 17 “Here is my servant whom I support,
my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.
I have placed my spirit on him;
he will make just decrees 18 for the nations. 19
42:2 He will not cry out or shout;
he will not publicize himself in the streets. 20
42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,
a dim wick he will not extinguish; 21
he will faithfully make just decrees. 22
42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed 23
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands 24 will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” 25
42:5 This is what the true God, 26 the Lord, says –
the one who created the sky and stretched it out,
the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, 27
the one who gives breath to the people on it,
and life to those who live on it: 28
42:6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you; 29
I take hold of your hand.
I protect you 30 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 31
and a light 32 to the nations, 33
to release prisoners 35 from dungeons,
those who live in darkness from prisons.
42:8 I am the Lord! That is my name!
I will not share my glory with anyone else,
or the praise due me with idols.
42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; 36
now I announce new events.
Before they begin to occur,
I reveal them to you.” 37
[41:21] 1 tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.
[41:21] 2 sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.
[41:22] 3 tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”
[41:22] 4 tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”
[41:22] 5 tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”
[41:23] 6 tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”
[41:23] 7 tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).
[41:23] tn Heb “so we might be frightened and afraid together.” On the meaning of the verb שָׁתָע (shata’), see the note at v. 10.
[41:24] 8 tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”
[41:25] 9 sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.
[41:25] 10 tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”
[41:25] 11 tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (vÿyavo’, “and he comes”), but this is likely a corruption of an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).
[41:26] 12 tn The words “who announced it” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The interrogative particle and verb are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
[41:27] 13 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[41:27] 14 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[41:29] 15 tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.
[41:29] 16 tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”
[42:1] 17 sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.
[42:1] 18 tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[42:1] 19 sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.
[42:2] 20 tn Heb “he will not cause his voice to be heard in the street.”
[42:3] 21 sn The “crushed reed” and “dim wick” symbolize the weak and oppressed who are on the verge of extinction.
[42:3] 22 tn Heb “faithfully he will bring out justice” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
[42:4] 23 tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.
[42:4] 24 tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”
[42:4] 25 tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).
[42:5] 26 tn Heb “the God.” The definite article here indicates distinctiveness or uniqueness.
[42:5] 27 tn Heb “and its offspring” (so NASB); NIV “all that comes out of it.”
[42:5] 28 tn Heb “and spirit [i.e., “breath”] to the ones walking in it” (NAB, NASB, and NRSV all similar).
[42:6] 29 tn Heb “call you in righteousness.” The pronoun “you” is masculine singular, referring to the servant. See the note at 41:2.
[42:6] 30 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצַר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצַר (yatsar, “form”).
[42:6] 31 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. The precise identity of עָם (’am, “people”) is uncertain. In v. 5 עָם refers to mankind, and the following reference to “nations” also favors this. But in 49:8, where the phrase בְּרִית עָם occurs again, Israel seems to be in view.
[42:6] 32 sn Light here symbolizes deliverance from bondage and oppression; note the parallelism in 49:6b and in 51:4-6.
[42:6] 33 tn Or “the Gentiles” (so KJV, ASV, NIV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context.
[42:7] 34 sn This does not refer to literal physical healing of the blind. As the next two lines suggest, this refers metonymically to freeing captives from their dark prisons where their eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.
[42:7] 35 sn This does not refer to hardened, dangerous criminals, who would have been executed for their crimes in ancient Near Eastern society. This verse refers to political prisoners or victims of social injustice.
[42:9] 36 tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”
[42:9] 37 tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).
