Isa 41 | NET2full | STEP | “ Listen to me in silence , you coastlands ! Let the nations find renewed strength ! Let them approach and then speak ; let us come together for debate .

‏ Isaiah 41

The Lord Challenges the Nations

1 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands! ^{▼▼tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV, CEV); TEV “distant lands”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”}
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate. ^{▼▼tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) could be translated “judgment,” but here it seems to refer to the dispute or debate between the Lord and the nations.}
2 Who stirs up this one from the east? ^{▼▼sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).}
Who ^{▼▼tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.} officially commissions him for service? ^{▼▼tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”}
He hands nations over to him ^{▼▼tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”}
and enables him to subdue ^{▼▼tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yard) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has יוֹרִיד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).} kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow. ^{▼▼sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.}
3 He pursues them and passes by unharmed; ^{▼▼tn Heb “[in] peace”; KJV, ASV “safely”; NASB “in safety”; NIV “unscathed.”}
he advances with great speed. ^{▼▼tn Heb “a way with his feet he does not come [or “enter”].” One could translate, “by a way he was not [previously] entering with his feet.” This would mean that he is advancing into new territory and expanding his conquests. The present translation assumes this is a hyperbolic description of his speedy advance. He moves so quickly he does not enter the way with his feet, i.e., his feet don’t even touch the ground. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 94.}
4 Who acts and carries out decrees? ^{▼▼tn Heb “Who acts and accomplishes?”; NASB “Who has performed and accomplished it.”}
Who ^{▼▼tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).} summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end—I am the one. ^{▼▼tn Heb “I, the Lord, [am with] the first, and with the last ones I [am] he.”}
5 The coastlands ^{▼▼tn Or “islands” (NIV, CEV); NCV “faraway places”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”} see and are afraid;
the whole earth ^{▼▼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.} trembles;
they approach and come.
6 They help one another; ^{▼▼tn Heb “each his neighbor helps”; NCV “The workers help each other.”}
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages ^{▼▼tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).} the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding, ^{▼▼tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”}
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.

The Lord Encourages His People

8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend, ^{▼▼tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).}
9 you whom I am bringing back ^{▼▼tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”} from the earth’s extremities
and have summoned from the remote regions—
I told you, ‘You are my servant.’
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ^{▼▼tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishtaʿ) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (shaʿah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (shaʿah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”). Its attestation in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yareʾ, “fear”).}
I strengthen you—
yes, I help you—
yes, I uphold you with my victorious right hand! ^{▼▼tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).}
11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries ^{▼▼tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”} will be reduced to nothing ^{▼▼tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”} and perish.
12 When you will look for your opponents, ^{▼▼tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”} you will not find them;
your enemies ^{▼▼tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”} will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
14 Don’t be afraid, despised, insignificant Jacob, ^{▼▼tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV84); NIV11 “you worm Jacob.” The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.}
men of ^{▼▼tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”} Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your Protector, ^{▼▼tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גֹּאֵל (goʾel, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.} the Holy One of Israel. ^{▼▼sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.}
15 “Look, I am making you like ^{▼▼tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”} a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. ^{▼▼tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.}
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. ^{▼▼sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.}
16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ^{▼▼tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).}
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
18 I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the arid rift valley. ^{▼▼sn The rift valley (עֲרָבָה, ʿaravah) is known for its arid, desert-like conditions in the area of the Dead Sea and southward (although it also includes the Jordan Valley, extending from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba). The point here is the contrast from its normal arid conditions to being productive with trees, which implies being watered. Similarly, the wilderness (מִדְבָּר, midbar) in the first line is an area that receives less than twelve inches of rainfall annually and so cannot support trees.}
20 I will do this so ^{▼▼tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”} people ^{▼▼tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”} will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power ^{▼▼tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).} has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being. ^{▼▼tn Or “created it” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “has made it happen.”}

The Lord Challenges the Pagan Gods

21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence,” ^{▼▼tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.} says Jacob’s King. ^{▼▼sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.}
22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ^{▼▼tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”}
so we may examine them ^{▼▼tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”} and see how they were fulfilled. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”}
Or decree for us some future events!
23 Predict how future events will turn out, ^{▼▼tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”}
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or something bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe. ^{▼▼tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [venirʾeh], from יָרֵא [yareʾ], “be afraid”).} ^{▼▼tn Heb “so we might be frightened and afraid together.” On the meaning of the verb שָׁתָע (shataʿ), see the note at v. 10.}
24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. ^{▼▼tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”}
25 I have stirred up one out of the north ^{▼▼sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.} and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. ^{▼▼tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”}
He steps on ^{▼▼tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (veyavoʾ, “and he comes”), but this likely needs to be emended to an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).} rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it ^{▼▼tn The words “who announced it” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The interrogative particle and verb are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).} ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it.
Indeed, none of them announced it.
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ ^{▼▼tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.}
I sent a herald to Jerusalem.
28 I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
29 Look, all of them are nothing, ^{▼▼tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (ʾaven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (ʾefes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.}
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance. ^{▼▼tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”}