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.”
49:9 You will say 5 to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
and to those who are in dark dungeons, 6 ‘Emerge.’ 7
They will graze beside the roads;
on all the slopes they will find pasture.
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 tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.
6 tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”
7 tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).