¹ tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”

² tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

³ tn Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”

¹ tn Heb “and Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his female servant, for her for a servant.”

³ tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the servant’s master, Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or “domestic servants.” The Greek word here is οἰκέτης (oiketēs), which technically refers to a member of the household, but usually means a household servant (slave) or personal servant rather than a field laborer.

² sn My servant. The collocation of “servant” and “chosen” bears strong messianic overtones. See the so-called “Servant Songs” and other messianic texts in Isaiah (Isa 41:8; 42:1; 44:4; 49:7).

¹ sn Servants could not be corrected by mere words; they had to be treated like children for they were frequently unresponsive. This, of course, would apply to certain kinds of servants. The Greek version translated this as “a stubborn servant.”

¹ tn Heb “and Huram sent to him by the hand of his servants, ships, and servants [who] know the sea, and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir.”

¹ tn Heb “The one with whom it is found from your servants.” Here “your servants” (a deferential way of referring to the brothers themselves) has been translated by the pronoun “us” to avoid confusion with Joseph’s servants.

² sn The figurative language emphasizes the servant’s importance as the Lord’s effective instrument. The servant’s mouth, which stands metonymically for his words, is compared to a sharp sword because he will be an effective spokesman on God’s behalf (see 50:4). The Lord holds his hand on the servant, ready to draw and use him at the appropriate time. The servant is like a sharpened arrow reserved in a quiver for just the right moment.

² sn The song ends as it began (cf. 52:13-15), with the Lord announcing the servant’s vindication and exaltation.

¹ tn Heb “and the house of Israel will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

² tn Heb “remember, O Lord, the taunt against your servants.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular here, “your servant” (that is, the psalmist).

³ tn The word עֲבֻדָּה (ʿavuddah, “service of household servants”) indicates that he had a very large body of servants, meaning a very large household.

² tn Heb “Search carefully and observe so that there are not here with you any servants of the Lord, but only the servants of Baal.”

² tn Heb “I will avenge the shed blood of my servants the prophets and the shed blood of all the servants of the Lord from the hand of Jezebel.”

¹ sn Your servant. By referring to Ben Hadad as Ahab’s servant, they are suggesting that Ahab make him a subject in a vassal treaty arrangement.

¹ tn Heb “and Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, men of ships, [who] know the sea, [to be] with the servants of Solomon.”

¹ tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And the servants of Absalom burned them up. And the servants of Joab came to him, rending their garments. They said….”