Yesaya 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.”

Yesaya 52:13

The Lord Will Vindicate His Servant

52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed! ¹³ 

He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted ¹⁴  –

Yesaya 55:4

55:4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, ¹⁵ 

a ruler and commander of nations.”

Yesaya 61:1-4

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

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

because the Lord has chosen ¹⁶  me. ¹⁷ 

He has commissioned ¹⁸  me to encourage ¹⁹  the poor,

to help ²⁰  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,

the day when our God will seek vengeance, ²¹ 

to console all who mourn,

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ²²  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ²³  instead of discouragement. ²⁴ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ²⁵ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ²⁶ 

61:4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins

and restore the places that were desolate; ²⁷ 

they will reestablish the ruined cities,

the places that have been desolate since ancient times.

[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.”

[52:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “act wisely,” which by metonymy means “succeed.”

[52:13]  ¹⁴ tn This piling up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of the servant’s coming exaltation.

[55:4]  ¹⁵ sn Ideally the Davidic king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness (cf. Pss 18:50 HT [18:49 ET]; 22:28 HT [22:27 ET]). See J. H. Eaton, Kingship in the Psalms (SBT), 182-84.

[61:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[61:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.

[61:3]  ²² tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ²³ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ²⁵ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[61:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and the formerly desolate places they will raise up.”