14:10 All of them respond to you, saying:
‘You too have become weak like us!
You have become just like us!
28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? 3
Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?
29:17 In just a very short time 4
Lebanon will turn into an orchard,
and the orchard will be considered a forest. 5
42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,
a dim wick he will not extinguish; 6
he will faithfully make just decrees. 7
53:1 Who would have believed 8 what we 9 just heard? 10
When 11 was the Lord’s power 12 revealed through him?
1 tn Heb “and the remnant of the number of the bow, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few.”
2 tn Or “for” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “All the day does the plowman plow in order to plant?” The phrase “all the day” here has the sense of “continually, always.” See BDB 400 s.v. יוֹם.
4 tn The Hebrew text phrases this as a rhetorical question, “Is it not yet a little, a short [time]?”
5 sn The meaning of this verse is debated, but it seems to depict a reversal in fortunes. The mighty forest of Lebanon (symbolic of the proud and powerful, see 2:13; 10:34) will be changed into a common orchard, while the common orchard (symbolic of the oppressed and lowly) will grow into a great forest. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:538.
6 sn The “crushed reed” and “dim wick” symbolize the weak and oppressed who are on the verge of extinction.
7 tn Heb “faithfully he will bring out justice” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
8 tn The perfect has a hypothetical force in this rhetorical question. For another example, see Gen 21:7.
9 sn The speaker shifts here from God to an unidentified group (note the first person plural pronouns throughout vv. 1-6). The content of the speech suggests that the prophet speaks here as representative of the sinful nation Israel. The group acknowledges its sin and recognizes that the servant suffered on their behalf.
10 tn The first half of v. 1 is traditionally translated, “Who has believed our report?” or “Who has believed our message?” as if the group speaking is lamenting that no one will believe what they have to say. But that doesn’t seem to be the point in this context. Here the group speaking does not cast itself in the role of a preacher or evangelist. No, they are repentant sinners, who finally see the light. The phrase “our report” can mean (1) the report which we deliver, or (2) the report which was delivered to us. The latter fits better here, where the report is most naturally taken as the announcement that has just been made in 52:13-15.
11 tn Heb “to whom” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
12 tn Heb “the arm of the Lord.” The “arm of the Lord” is a metaphor of military power; it pictures the Lord as a warrior who bares his arm, takes up his weapon, and crushes his enemies (cf. 51:9-10; 63:5-6). But Israel had not seen the Lord’s military power at work in the servant.