Yesaya 41:14

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹ 

men of ²  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ³  the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

Yesaya 43:14

The Lord Will Do Something New

43:14 This is what the Lord says,

your protector, ⁵  the Holy One of Israel: ⁶ 

“For your sake I send to Babylon

and make them all fugitives, ⁷ 

turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. ⁸ 

Yesaya 44:6

The Absurdity of Idolatry

44:6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,

their protector, ⁹  the Lord who commands armies:

“I am the first and I am the last,

there is no God but me.

Yesaya 44:24

The Lord Empowers Cyrus

44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹⁰  says,

the one who formed you in the womb:

“I am the Lord, who made everything,

who alone stretched out the sky,

who fashioned the earth all by myself, ¹¹ 

Yesaya 47:4

47:4 says our protector –

the Lord who commands armies is his name,

the Holy One of Israel. ¹² 

Yesaya 48:17

48:17 This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹³  says,

the Holy One of Israel: ¹⁴ 

“I am the Lord your God,

who teaches you how to succeed,

who leads you in the way you should go.

Yesaya 49:7

49:7 This is what the Lord,

the protector ¹⁵  of Israel, their Holy One, ¹⁶  says

to the one who is despised ¹⁷  and rejected ¹⁸  by nations, ¹⁹ 

a servant of rulers:

“Kings will see and rise in respect, ²⁰ 

princes will bow down,

because of the faithful Lord,

the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

Yesaya 49:26

49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;

they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. ²¹ 

Then all humankind ²²  will recognize that

I am the Lord, your deliverer,

your protector, ²³  the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ²⁴ 

Yesaya 54:5

54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –

the Lord who commands armies is his name.

He is your protector, ²⁵  the Holy One of Israel. ²⁶ 

He is called “God of the entire earth.”

Yesaya 54:8

54:8 In a burst ²⁷  of anger I rejected you ²⁸  momentarily,

but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”

says your protector, ²⁹  the Lord.

Yesaya 59:20

59:20 “A protector ³⁰  comes to Zion,

to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,” ³¹  says the Lord.

Yesaya 63:16

63:16 For you are our father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not recognize us.

You, Lord, are our father;

you have been called our protector from ancient times. ³² 

[41:14]  ¹ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ² tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ³ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:14]  ⁵ tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[43:14]  ⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”

[43:14]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.

[44:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:24]  ¹¹ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.

[47:4]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text reads, “Our redeemer – the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] is his name, the Holy One of Israel.” The ancient Greek version adds “says” before “our redeemer.” אָמַר (’amar) may have accidentally dropped from the text by virtual haplography. Note that the preceding word אָדָם (’adam) is graphically similar.

[47:4]  sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[48:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[48:17]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[49:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:7]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[49:7]  ¹⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a 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 1QIsa^a reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”

[49:7]  ¹⁸ 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.”

[49:7]  ¹⁹ 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).

[49:7]  ²⁰ 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.

[49:26]  ²¹ sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.

[49:26]  ²² tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:26]  ²³ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:26]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.” See 1:24.

[54:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[54:5]  ²⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[54:8]  ²⁷ tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”

[54:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”

[54:8]  ²⁹ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[59:20]  ³⁰ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[59:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “and to those who turn from rebellion in Jacob.”

[63:16]  ³² tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”