Yesaya 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ¹ 

Is my hand too weak ²  to deliver ³  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁴  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ⁵ 

Yesaya 53:1

53:1 Who would have believed ⁶  what we ⁷  just heard? ⁸ 

When ⁹  was the Lord’s power ¹⁰  revealed through him?

[50:2]  ¹ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ² tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ³ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[53:1]  ⁶ tn The perfect has a hypothetical force in this rhetorical question. For another example, see Gen 21:7.

[53:1]  ⁷ sn The speaker shifts here from God to an unidentified group (note the first person plural pronouns throughout vv. 1-6). The content of the speech suggests that the prophet speaks here as representative of the sinful nation Israel. The group acknowledges its sin and recognizes that the servant suffered on their behalf.

[53:1]  ⁸ tn The first half of v. 1 is traditionally translated, “Who has believed our report?” or “Who has believed our message?” as if the group speaking is lamenting that no one will believe what they have to say. But that doesn’t seem to be the point in this context. Here the group speaking does not cast itself in the role of a preacher or evangelist. No, they are repentant sinners, who finally see the light. The phrase “our report” can mean (1) the report which we deliver, or (2) the report which was delivered to us. The latter fits better here, where the report is most naturally taken as the announcement that has just been made in 52:13-15.

[53:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “to whom” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[53:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the arm of the Lord.” The “arm of the Lord” is a metaphor of military power; it pictures the Lord as a warrior who bares his arm, takes up his weapon, and crushes his enemies (cf. 51:9-10; 63:5-6). But Israel had not seen the Lord’s military power at work in the servant.