40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth. 1
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom. 2
40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help 3 find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, 4
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
43:23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings;
you did not honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not burden you with offerings;
I did not make you weary by demanding 5 incense.
43:24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds; 6
you did not present to me 7 the fat of your sacrifices.
Yet you burdened me with your sins;
you made me weary with your evil deeds. 8
50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, 9
so that I know how to help the weary. 10
He wakes me up every morning;
he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. 11
1 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.
2 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).
3 tn The words “for the Lord’s help” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 tn Heb “they rise up [on] wings like eagles” (TEV similar).
5 tn Heb “with.” The words “by demanding” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
6 tn That is, “calamus” (so NIV); NCV, TEV, NLT “incense”; CEV “spices.”
7 tn Heb “you did not saturate me”; NASB “Neither have you filled Me.”
8 sn In vv. 22-24 the Lord appears to be condemning his people for failure to bring the proper sacrifices. However, this is problematic. If this refers to the nation’s behavior while in exile, such cultic service was impossible and could hardly be expected by the Lord. If this refers to the nation’s conduct before the exile, it contradicts other passages that depict Israel as bringing excessive sacrifices (see, e.g., Isa 1:11-14; Jer 6:20; Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-23). Rather than being a condemnation of Israel’s failure to bring sacrifices, these verses are better taken as a highly rhetorical comment on the worthlessness of Israel’s religious ritual. They may have brought sacrifices, but not to the Lord, for he did not accept them or even want them. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 127, and R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 91.
9 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.
10 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 (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “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.
11 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”