Discovery BoxIsaiah 41:5-8 
Context41:5 The coastlands 1 see and are afraid;
the whole earth 2 trembles;
they approach and come.
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages 4 the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding, 5
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”
41:8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend, 6
1 tn Or “islands” (NIV, CEV); NCV “faraway places”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”
2 tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.
3 tn Heb “each his neighbor helps”; NCV “The workers help each other.”
4 tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
5 tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”
6 tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).
