Discovery BoxIsaiah 45:11 
Context45:11 This is what the Lord says,
the Holy One of Israel, 1 the one who formed him,
concerning things to come: 2
“How dare you question me 3 about my children!
How dare you tell me what to do with 4 the work of my own hands!
Isaiah 45:13
Context45:13 It is me – I stir him up and commission him; 5
I will make all his ways level.
He will rebuild my city;
he will send my exiled people home,
but not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
Isaiah 49:5-6
Context49:5 So now the Lord says,
the one who formed me from birth 6 to be his servant –
he did this 7 to restore Jacob to himself,
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
and I will be honored 8 in the Lord’s sight,
for my God is my source of strength 9 –
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 10 of Israel? 11
I will make you a light to the nations, 12
so you can bring 13 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
Isaiah 65:22
Context65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, 14
or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, 15
for my people will live as long as trees, 16
and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. 17
Isaiah 66:19
Context66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them 18 and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, 19 Lud 20 (known for its archers 21 ), Tubal, Javan, 22 and to the distant coastlands 23 that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.
1 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
2 tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsÿro, “the one who formed him”) to יֹצֵר (yotser, “the one who forms”; the suffixed form in the Hebrew text may be influenced by vv. 9-10, where the same form appears twice) and takes “coming things” as the object of the participle (either objective genitive or accusative): “the one who brings the future into being.”
3 tn Heb “Ask me” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.
4 tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.
5 tn Heb “I stir him up in righteousness”; NASB “I have aroused him.” See the note at 41:2. Cyrus (cf. 44:28) is in view here.
6 tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).
7 tn The words “he did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct of purpose is subordinated to the previous statement.
8 tn The vav (ו) + imperfect is translated here as a result clause; one might interpret it as indicating purpose, “and so I might be honored.”
9 tn Heb “and my God is [perhaps, “having been”] my strength.” The disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) is interpreted here as indicating a causal circumstantial clause.
10 tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”
11 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.
13 tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”
14 tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”
15 tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”
16 tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”
17 tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”
18 tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).
19 tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).
20 sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).
21 tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).
22 sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).
23 tn Or “islands” (NIV).
