Isaiah 50:2-4 New English Translation
2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call?[a]
Is my hand too weak[b] to deliver[c] you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout[d] I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water.[e]
3 I can clothe the sky in darkness;
I can cover it with sackcloth.”
The Servant Perseveres
4 The Sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman,[f]
so that I know how to help the weary.[g]
He wakes me up every morning;
he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do.[h]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 50:2 sn The present-tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.
- Isaiah 50:2 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
- Isaiah 50:2 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
- Isaiah 50:2 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
- Isaiah 50:2 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”
- Isaiah 50:4 tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”sn Verses 4-11 contain the third of the so-called servant songs, which depict the career of the Lord’s special servant, envisioned as an ideal Israel (49:3) who rescues the exiles and fulfills God’s purposes for the world. Here the servant alludes to opposition (something hinted at in 49:4), but also expresses his determination to persevere with the Lord’s help.
- Isaiah 50:4 tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (ʿut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (ʿanot) from עָנָה (ʿanah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.
- Isaiah 50:4 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”
New English Translation (NET)
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