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 40:28

40:28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is an eternal God,

the creator of the whole earth. ⁴ 

He does not get tired or weary;

there is no limit to his wisdom. ⁵ 

Yesaya 49:13

49:13 Shout for joy, O sky! ⁶ 

Rejoice, O earth!

Let the mountains give a joyful shout!

For the Lord consoles his people

and shows compassion to the ⁷  oppressed.

Yesaya 62:11

62:11 Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: ⁸ 

“Say to Daughter Zion,

‘Look, your deliverer comes!

Look, his reward is with him

and his reward goes before him!’” ⁹ 

[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.

[40:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.

[40:28]  ⁵ sn Exiled Israel’s complaint (v. 27) implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps he, like so many of the pagan gods, has died. Or perhaps his jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe he is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue his people, or is unable to execute it. But v. 28 affirms that he is not limited temporally or spatially nor is his power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver his people, if they respond in hopeful faith (v. 31a).

[49:13]  ⁶ tn Or “O heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[49:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “his” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[62:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so NASB, NRSV).

[62:11]  ⁹ sn As v. 12 indicates, the returning exiles are the Lord’s reward/prize. See also 40:10 and the note there.