¹ tn Heb “Why to me the multitude of your sacrifices?” The sarcastic rhetorical question suggests that their many sacrifices are of no importance to the Lord. This phrase answers the possible objection that an Israelite could raise in response to God’s indictment: “But we are offering the sacrifices you commanded!”

sn In this section the Lord refutes a potential objection that his sinful people might offer in their defense. He has charged them with rebellion (vv. 2-3), but they might respond that they have brought him many sacrifices. So he points out that he requires social justice first and foremost, not empty ritual.

² tn The verb שָׂבַע (sava’, “be satisfied, full”) is often used of eating and/or drinking one’s fill. See BDB 959 s.v. שָׂבַע. Here sacrifices are viewed, in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion, as food for the deity. God here declares that he has eaten and drunk, as it were, his fill.

³ sn In the chiastic structure of the verse, the verbs at the beginning and end highlight God’s displeasure, while the heaping up of references to animals, fat, and blood in the middle lines hints at why God wants no more of their sacrifices. They have, as it were, piled the food on his table and he needs no more.

⁴ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

⁵ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

⁶ tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at v. 9.

⁷ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Israel.”

⁸ tn Heb “console myself” (i.e., by getting revenge); NRSV “pour out my wrath on.”

⁹ sn The Lord here identifies with the oppressed and comes as their defender and vindicator.

¹⁰ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

¹¹ tn Heb “he will lift up [his voice].”

¹² tn Heb “wrapper [of wounds]”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “healer.”

¹³ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

¹⁴ tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).

¹⁵ tn Heb “descendant and child.”

¹⁶ sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.

¹⁷ tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

¹⁹ tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

²⁰ tn Heb “So I weep with the weeping of Jazer.” Once more the speaker (the Lord? – see v. 10b) plays the role of a mourner (see 15:5).

²¹ tc The form אֲרַיָּוֶךְ (’arayyavekh) should be emended to אֲרַוָּיֶךְ (’aravvayekh; the vav [ו] and yod [י] have been accidentally transposed) from רָוָה (ravah, “be saturated”).

²² tn Heb “for over your fruit and over your harvest shouting has fallen.” The translation assumes that the shouting is that of the conqueror (Jer 51:14). Another possibility is that the shouting is that of the harvesters (see v. 10b, as well as Jer 25:30), in which case one might translate, “for the joyful shouting over the fruit and crops has fallen silent.”

²³ tn Heb “My trampled one, and the son of the threshing floor.”

²⁴ tn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:430-31) sees here a reference to Yam, the Canaanite god of the sea. He interprets the phrase מָעוֹז הַיָּם (ma’oz hayyam, “fortress of the sea”) as a title of Yam, translating “Mighty One of the Sea.” A more traditional view is that the phrase refers to Sidon.

²⁵ tn Or “virgins” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB).

sn The sea is personified here as a lamenting childless woman. The foreboding language anticipates the following announcement of Tyre’s demise, viewed here as a child of the sea, as it were.

²⁶ sn The prophet speaks here as one who has observed the coming judgment of the proud.

²⁷ tn Heb “name.” See the note at 24:15.

²⁸ tn Heb “plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness.” The feminine noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness”) and masculine noun אֹמֶן (’omen, “trustworthiness”), both of which are derived from the root אָמַן (’aman), are juxtaposed to emphasize the basic idea conveyed by the synonyms. Here they describe the absolute reliability of the divine plans.

²⁹ tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.

³⁰ tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”

³¹ tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).

³² sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.

³³ tn Heb “Who acts and accomplishes?”; NASB “Who has performed and accomplished it.”

³⁴ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

³⁵ tn Heb “I, the Lord, [am with] the first, and with the last ones I [am] he.”

³⁶ tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

³⁷ tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”

³⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

³⁹ sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.

⁴⁰ tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁴¹ tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”

⁴² tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”

⁴³ tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”

⁴⁴ tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has נתיבות (“paths”).

⁴⁵ tn Heb “with.” The words “by demanding” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁴⁶ tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)

⁴⁷ tn Heb “and streams”; KJV “floods.” The verb “cause…to flow” is supplied in the second line for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

⁴⁸ tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

⁴⁹ tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.

⁵⁰ tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

⁵¹ tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”

⁵² tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

⁵³ tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.

⁵⁴ tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”

⁵⁵ tn Or “compassion.”

⁵⁶ tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”

⁵⁷ tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”

⁵⁸ tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”

⁵⁹ tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”

⁶⁰ tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”

⁶¹ sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.

⁶² tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

⁶³ tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

⁶⁴ 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.

⁶⁵ 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 1QIsa^a and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.

⁶⁶ tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”

⁶⁷ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

⁶⁸ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

⁶⁹ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

⁷⁰ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

⁷¹ tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”

⁷² tn The addressee (second masculine singular, as in vv. 13, 15) in this verse is unclear. The exiles are addressed in the immediately preceding verses (note the critical tone of vv. 12-13 and the reference to the exiles in v. 14). However, it seems unlikely that they are addressed in v. 16, for the addressee appears to be commissioned to tell Zion, who here represents the restored exiles, “you are my people.” The addressee is distinct from the exiles. The language of v. 16a is reminiscent of 49:2 and 50:4, where the Lord’s special servant says he is God’s spokesman and effective instrument. Perhaps the Lord, having spoken to the exiles in vv. 1-15, now responds to this servant, who spoke just prior to this in 50:4-11.

⁷³ tn Heb “I place my words in your mouth.”

⁷⁴ tn Heb “with the shadow of my hand.”

⁷⁵ tc The Hebrew text has לִנְטֹעַ (lintoa’, “to plant”). Several scholars prefer to emend this form to לִנְטֹת (lintot) from נָטָה (natah, “to stretch out”); see v. 13, as well as 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV. However, since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, LXX (and Aquila and Symmachus), and Vulgate support the MT reading, there is no need to emend the form. The interpretation is clear enough: Yahweh fixed the sky in its place.

⁷⁶ tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough – the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).

⁷⁷ tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

sn To live here refers to covenantal blessing, primarily material prosperity and national security (see vv. 4-5, 13, and Deut 30:6, 15, 19-20).

⁷⁸ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

⁷⁹ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

⁸⁰ tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

⁸¹ tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

⁸² tc The Hebrew text has literally, “one who creates fruit of lips.” Perhaps the pronoun אֲנִי (’ani) should be inserted after the participle; it may have been accidentally omitted by haplography: נוּב שְׂפָתָיִם[אֲנִי] בּוֹרֵא (bore’ [’ani] nuv sÿfatayim). “Fruit of the lips” is often understood as a metonymy for praise; perhaps it refers more generally to joyful shouts (see v. 18).

⁸³ tn Heb “Peace, peace.” The repetition of the noun emphasizes degree.

⁸⁴ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁸⁵ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸⁶ tn Heb “crushed.”

⁸⁷ tn For a parallel use of the phrase “find joy in” (Hitpael of עָנַג [’anag] followed by the preposition עַל [’al]), see Ps 37:4.

⁸⁸ tn Heb “and I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the land.” The statement seems to be an allusion to Deut 32:13, where it is associated, as here, with God’s abundant provision of food.

⁸⁹ tn Heb “and I will cause you to eat the inheritance of Jacob your father.” The Hebrew term נַחֲלָה (nakhalah) likely stands by metonymy for the crops that grow on Jacob’s “inheritance” (i.e., the land he inherited as a result of God’s promise).

⁹⁰ tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The introductory כִּי (ki) may be asseverative (as reflected in the translation) or causal/explanatory, explaining why the preceding promise will become reality (because it is guaranteed by the divine word).

⁹¹ tn Heb “in my favor I will have compassion on you.”

⁹² tn Or “righteous” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “just.”

⁹³ tn Heb “a shoot of his planting, the work of my hands, to reveal splendor.”

⁹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁹⁵ tn Heb “goes forth like brightness.”

⁹⁶ sn See Isa 59:16 for similar language.

⁹⁷ tn Heb “and my anger, it supported me”; NIV “my own wrath sustained me.”

⁹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁹⁹ tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.

¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.

¹⁰¹ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

¹⁰² tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

¹⁰³ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

¹⁰⁵ sn The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “Of course not!”