Yesaya 40:10

40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; ¹ 

his military power establishes his rule. ² 

Look, his reward is with him;

his prize goes before him. ³ 

Yesaya 41:10

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ⁴ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ⁵ 

Yesaya 42:1

The Lord Commissions His Special Servant

42:1 ⁶ “Here is my servant whom I support,

my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.

I have placed my spirit on him;

he will make just decrees ⁷  for the nations. ⁸ 

Yesaya 56:2

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ⁹ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ¹⁰ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ¹¹ 

[40:10]  ¹ tn Heb “comes as a strong one”; ASV “will come as a mighty one.” The preposition בְּ (bet) here carries the nuance “in the capacity of.” It indicates that the Lord possesses the quality expressed by the noun. See GKC 379 §119.i and HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ.

[40:10]  ² tn Heb “his arm rules for him” (so NIV, NRSV). The Lord’s “arm” symbolizes his military power (see Isa 51:9-10; 63:5).

[40:10]  ³ tn As the Lord returns to Jerusalem as a victorious warrior, he brings with him the spoils of victory, called here his “reward” and “prize.” These terms might also be translated “wages” and “recompense.” Verse 11 indicates that his rescued people, likened to a flock of sheep, are his reward.

[41:10]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.).

[42:1]  ⁶ sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.

[42:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[42:1]  ⁸ sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.

[56:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”