Isaiah 49:3-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Isaiah 49:3 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.
2. Isaiah 49:4 tn Or “said” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “I replied.”
3. Isaiah 49:4 tn Heb “for nothing and emptiness.” Synonyms are combined to emphasize the common idea.
4. Isaiah 49:4 tn Heb “But my justice is with the Lord, and my reward [or “wage”] with my God.”
5. Isaiah 49:5 tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).
6. Isaiah 49:5 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.
7. Isaiah 49:5 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.”
8. Isaiah 49:5 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.