49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,
to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the remnant 1 of Israel? 2
I will make you a light to the nations, 3
so you can bring 4 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
49:12 Look, they come from far away!
Look, some come from the north and west,
and others from the land of Sinim! 5
1 tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”
2 sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.
3 tn See the note at 42:6.
4 tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”
5 tc The MT reads “Sinim” here; the Dead Sea Scrolls read “Syene,” a location in Egypt associated with modern Aswan. A number of recent translations adopt this reading: “Syene” (NAB, NRSV); “Aswan” (NIV); “Egypt” (NLT).
sn The precise location of the land of Sinim is uncertain, but since the north and west are mentioned in the previous line, it was a probably located in the distant east or south.