42:5 This is what the true God, 1 the Lord, says –
the one who created the sky and stretched it out,
the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, 2
the one who gives breath to the people on it,
and life to those who live on it: 3
66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country 4 be brought forth in one day?
Can a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!
1 tn Heb “the God.” The definite article here indicates distinctiveness or uniqueness.
2 tn Heb “and its offspring” (so NASB); NIV “all that comes out of it.”
3 tn Heb “and spirit [i.e., “breath”] to the ones walking in it” (NAB, NASB, and NRSV all similar).
4 tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).