Yesaya 14:2

14:2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ¹  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Yesaya 41:25

41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north ²  and he advances,

one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. ³ 

He steps on ⁴  rulers as if they were clay,

like a potter treading the clay.

Yesaya 53:7

53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, ⁵ 

but he did not even open his mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,

like a sheep silent before her shearers,

he did not even open his mouth. ⁶ 

Yesaya 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ⁷  me. ⁸ 

He has commissioned ⁹  me to encourage ¹⁰  the poor,

to help ¹¹  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

[14:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

[41:25]  ² sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.

[41:25]  ³ tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”

[41:25]  ⁴ 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”).

[53:7]  ⁵ tn The translation assumes the Niphal is passive; another option is take the clause (note the subject + verb pattern) as concessive and the Niphal as reflexive, “though he humbled himself.”

[53:7]  ⁶ sn This verse emphasizes the servant’s silent submission. The comparison to a sheep does not necessarily suggest a sacrificial metaphor. Sheep were slaughtered for food as well as for sacrificial rituals, and טֶבַח (tevakh) need not refer to sacrificial slaughter (see Gen 43:16; Prov 7:22; 9:2; Jer 50:27; note also the use of the related verb in Exod 21:37; Deut 28:31; 1 Sam 25:11).

[61:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ⁸ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ⁹ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”