Yesaya 26:18

26:18 We were pregnant, we strained,

we gave birth, as it were, to wind. ¹ 

We cannot produce deliverance on the earth;

people to populate the world are not born. ² 

Yesaya 55:5

55:5 Look, you will summon nations ³  you did not previously know;

nations ⁴  that did not previously know you will run to you,

because of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, ⁵ 

for he bestows honor on you.

Zakharia 8:22

8:22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor.

Lukas 2:32

2:32 a light, ⁶ 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory ⁷  to your people Israel.”

[26:18]  ¹ tn On the use of כְּמוֹ (kÿmo, “like, as”) here, see BDB 455 s.v. Israel’s distress and suffering, likened here to the pains of childbirth, seemed to be for no purpose. A woman in labor endures pain with the hope that a child will be born; in Israel’s case no such positive outcome was apparent. The nation was like a woman who strains to bring forth a child, but can’t push the baby through to daylight. All her effort produces nothing.

[26:18]  ² tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the world do not fall.” The term נָפַל (nafal) apparently means here, “be born,” though the Qal form of the verb is not used with this nuance anywhere else in the OT. (The Hiphil appears to be used in the sense of “give birth” in v. 19, however.) The implication of verse 18b seems to be that Israel hoped its suffering would somehow end in deliverance and an increase in population. The phrase “inhabitants of the world” seems to refer to the human race in general, but the next verse, which focuses on Israel’s dead, suggests the referent may be more limited.

[55:5]  ³ tn Heb “a nation,” but the singular is collective here, as the plural verbs in the next line indicate (note that both “know” and “run” are third plural forms).

[55:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “a nation,” but the singular is collective here, as the plural verbs that follow indicate.

[55:5]  ⁵ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[2:32]  ⁶ tn The syntax of this verse is disputed. Most read “light” and “glory” in parallelism, so Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and is glory to the people for Israel. Others see “light” (1:78-79) as a summary, while “revelation” and “glory” are parallel, so Jesus is light for all, but is revelation for the Gentiles and glory for Israel. Both readings make good sense and either could be correct, but Luke 1:78-79 and Acts 26:22-23 slightly favor this second option.

[2:32]  ⁷ sn In other words, Jesus is a special cause for praise and honor (“glory”) for the nation.