Yesaya 40:9

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹ 

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

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 ²  me. ³ 

He has commissioned ⁴  me to encourage ⁵  the poor,

to help ⁶  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

[40:9]  ¹ tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.

[61:1]  ² tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ⁵ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”