Yesaya 44:21-23

44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,

O Israel, for you are my servant.

I formed you to be my servant;

O Israel, I will not forget you! ¹ 

44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,

the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ² 

Come back to me, for I protect ³  you.”

44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; ⁴ 

shout out, you subterranean regions ⁵  of the earth.

O mountains, give a joyful shout;

you too, O forest and all your trees! ⁶ 

For the Lord protects ⁷  Jacob;

he reveals his splendor through Israel. ⁸ 

[44:21]  ¹ tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[44:22]  ² tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

[44:22]  ³ tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”

[44:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.

[44:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”

[44:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:23]  ⁸ tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”