Yesaya 41:8-29
Konteks41:8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend, 1
41:9 you whom I am bringing back 2 from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions –
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! 3
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! 4
41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries 5 will be reduced to nothing 6 and perish.
41:12 When you will look for your opponents, 7 you will not find them;
your enemies 8 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
41:13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, 9
men of 10 Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector, 11 the Holy One of Israel. 12
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 13 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 14
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 15
41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; 16
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
41:20 I will do this so 17 people 18 will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power 19 has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” 20
41:21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence,” 21 says Jacob’s king. 22
41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, 23
so we may examine them 24 and see how they were fulfilled. 25
Or decree for us some future events!
41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, 26
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe. 27
41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. 28
41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north 29 and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. 30
He steps on 31 rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it 32 ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
41:27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ 33
I sent a herald to Jerusalem. 34
41:28 I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, 35
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance. 36
[41:8] 1 tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).
[41:9] 2 tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”
[41:10] 3 tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).
[41:10] 4 tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).
[41:11] 5 tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”
[41:11] 6 tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”
[41:12] 7 tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”
[41:12] 8 tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”
[41:14] 9 tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.
[41:14] 10 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] 11 tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.
[41:14] 12 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[41:15] 13 tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”
[41:15] 14 tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.
[41:15] 15 sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.
[41:17] 16 tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[41:20] 17 tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”
[41:20] 18 tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”
[41:20] 19 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[41:20] 20 tn Or “created it” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “has made it happen.”
[41:21] 21 tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.
[41:21] 22 sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.
[41:22] 23 tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”
[41:22] 24 tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”
[41:22] 25 tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”
[41:23] 26 tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”
[41:23] 27 tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).
[41:23] tn Heb “so we might be frightened and afraid together.” On the meaning of the verb שָׁתָע (shata’), see the note at v. 10.
[41:24] 28 tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”
[41:25] 29 sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.
[41:25] 30 tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”
[41:25] 31 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”).
[41:26] 32 tn The words “who announced it” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The interrogative particle and verb are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
[41:27] 33 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[41:27] 34 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[41:29] 35 tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.
[41:29] 36 tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”
