Yesaya 40:11

40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;

he gathers up the lambs with his arm;

he carries them close to his heart; ¹ 

he leads the ewes along.

Yesaya 48:14

48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!

Who among them ²  announced these things?

The Lord’s ally ³  will carry out his desire against Babylon;

he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ⁴ 

Yesaya 51:9

51:9 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! ⁵ 

Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!

Did you not smash ⁶  the Proud One? ⁷ 

Did you not ⁸  wound the sea monster? ⁹ 

Yesaya 52:10

52:10 The Lord reveals ¹⁰  his royal power ¹¹ 

in the sight of all the nations;

the entire ¹²  earth sees

our God deliver. ¹³ 

Yesaya 59:16

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate; ¹⁴ 

he is shocked ¹⁵  that no one intervenes.

So he takes matters into his own hands; ¹⁶ 

his desire for justice drives him on. ¹⁷ 

[40:11]  ¹ tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.

[48:14]  ² sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).

[48:14]  ³ tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”

[48:14]  sn The Lord’s ally is a reference to Cyrus.

[48:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”

[51:9]  ⁵ tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.

[51:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”

[51:9]  ⁷ tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).

[51:9]  ⁸ tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”

[51:9]  ⁹ tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.

[52:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”

[52:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.

[52:10]  ¹² tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.

[52:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.

[59:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”

[59:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”

[59:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”

[59:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”