33:7 Look, ambassadors 1 cry out in the streets;
messengers sent to make peace 2 weep bitterly.
49:16 Look, I have inscribed your name 3 on my palms;
your walls are constantly before me.
52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed! 4
He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted 5 –
55:4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, 6
a ruler and commander of nations.”
1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Proposals include “heroes” (cf. KJV, ASV “valiant ones”; NASB, NIV “brave men”); “priests,” “residents [of Jerusalem].” The present translation assumes that the term is synonymous with “messengers of peace,” with which it corresponds in the parallel structure of the verse.
2 tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).
3 tn Heb “you.” Here the pronoun is put by metonymy for the person’s name.
4 tn Heb “act wisely,” which by metonymy means “succeed.”
5 tn This piling up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of the servant’s coming exaltation.
6 sn Ideally the Davidic king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness (cf. Pss 18:50 HT [18:49 ET]; 22:28 HT [22:27 ET]). See J. H. Eaton, Kingship in the Psalms (SBT), 182-84.