41:9 you whom I am bringing back 1 from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions –
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! 2
Pay attention, you people who live far away!
The Lord summoned me from birth; 3
he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 4
51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who gave you birth. 5
When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, 6
but I blessed him 7 and gave him numerous descendants. 8
1 tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”
2 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”
sn The Lord’s special servant, introduced in chap. 42, speaks here of his commission.
3 tn Heb “called me from the womb.”
4 tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”
5 sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.
6 tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”
7 tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.
8 tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”