Discovery BoxIsaiah 8:4 
Context8:4 for before the child knows how to cry out, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria 1 will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” 2
Isaiah 39:6
Context39:6 ‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors 3 have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.
Isaiah 46:3
Context46:3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, 4
all you who are left from the family of Israel, 5
you who have been carried from birth, 6
you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. 7
Isaiah 52:5
Context52:5 And now, what do we have here?” 8 says the Lord.
“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,
those who rule over them taunt,” 9 says the Lord,
“and my name is constantly slandered 10 all day long.
Isaiah 53:11
Context53:11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,
he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. 11
“My servant 12 will acquit many, 13
for he carried their sins. 14
Isaiah 63:9
Context63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. 15
The messenger sent from his very presence 16 delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected 17 them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 18
1 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
2 sn The child’s name foreshadows what will happen to Judah’s enemies; when their defeat takes place, the child will be a reminder that God predicted the event and brought it to pass. As such the child will be a reminder of God’s protective presence with his people.
3 tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).
4 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”
5 tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”
6 tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”
7 tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”
8 tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading (Qere)] to me here?”
9 tn The verb appears to be a Hiphil form from the root יָלַל (yalal, “howl”), perhaps here in the sense of “mock.” Some emend the form to יְהוֹלָּלוֹ (yÿhollalo) and understand a Polel form of the root הָלַל meaning here “mock, taunt.”
10 tn The verb is apparently a Hitpolal form (with assimilated tav, ת) from the root נָאַץ (na’ats), but GKC 151-52 §55.b explains it as a mixed form, combining Pual and Hitpolel readings.
11 tn Heb “he will be satisfied by his knowledge,” i.e., “when he knows.” The preposition is understood as temporal and the suffix as a subjective genitive. Some take בְּדַעְתּוֹ (bÿda’to, “by his knowledge”) with what follows and translate “by knowledge of him,” understanding the preposition as instrumental and the suffix as objective.
12 sn The song ends as it began (cf. 52:13-15), with the Lord announcing the servant’s vindication and exaltation.
13 tn Heb “he will acquit, a righteous one, my servant, many.” צַדִּיק (tsadiq) may refer to the servant, but more likely it is dittographic (note the preceding verb יַצְדִּיק, yatsdiq). The precise meaning of the verb (the Hiphil of צָדַק, tsadaq) is debated. Elsewhere the Hiphil is used at least six times in the sense of “make righteous” in a legal sense, i.e., “pronounce innocent, acquit” (see Exod 23:7; Deut 25:1; 1 Kgs 8:32 = 2 Chr 6:23; Prov 17:15; Isa 5:23). It can also mean “render justice” (as a royal function, see 2 Sam 15:4; Ps 82:3), “concede” (Job 27:5), “vindicate” (Isa 50:8), and “lead to righteousness” (by teaching and example, Dan 12:3). The preceding context and the next line suggest a legal sense here. Because of his willingness to carry the people’s sins, the servant is able to “acquit” them.
sn Some (e.g., H. M. Orlinsky, “The So-called ‘Suffering Servant’ in Isaiah 53,22,” VTSup 14 [1967]: 3-133) object to this legal interpretation of the language, arguing that it would be unjust for the righteous to suffer for the wicked and for the wicked to be declared innocent. However, such a surprising development is consistent with the ironic nature of this song. It does seem unfair for the innocent to die for the guilty. But what is God to do when all have sinned and wandered off like stray sheep (cf. v. 6)? Covenant law demands punishment, but punishment in this case would mean annihilation of what God has created. God’s justice, as demanded by the law, must be satisfied. To satisfy his justice, he does something seemingly unjust. He punishes his sinless servant, the only one who has not strayed off! In the progress of biblical revelation, we discover that the sinless servant is really God in the flesh, who offers himself because he is committed to the world he has created. If his justice can only be satisfied if he himself endures the punishment, then so be it. What appears to be an act of injustice is really love satisfying the demands of justice!
14 tn The circumstantial clause (note the vav [ו] + object + subject + verb pattern) is understood as causal here. The prefixed verb form is either a preterite or an imperfect used in a customary manner.
15 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
16 tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”
sn This may refer to the “angel of God” mentioned in Exod 14:19, who in turn may be identical to the divine “presence” (literally, “face”) referred to in Exod 33:14-15 and Deut 4:37. Here in Isa 63 this messenger may be equated with God’s “holy Spirit” (see vv. 10-11) and “the Spirit of the Lord” (v. 14). See also Ps 139:7, where God’s “Spirit” seems to be equated with his “presence” (literally, “face”) in the synonymous parallelistic structure.
17 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
18 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”
