The last few weeks, we've spent a fair bit of time studying, and circling around, Isaiah 49:1-6. These verses (I've argued) are the words of the exilic prophet, who feels like his ministry to Israel has been a waste. He's accomplished nothing. He's poured out his strength for nothing. And God responds by giving him a bigger ministry-- one not only to Israel, but to the nations. Let's dive in by rereading these verses, one last time:
(1) Listen, O coastlands, to me,
and pay attention, O far-off peoples:
Yahweh, from the womb, has called me; ["from the womb" is focused]
from the belly of my mother He has mentioned/made known my name,
(2) and He made my mouth like a sharp sword.
In the shadow of his hand He has hidden me,
and He made me like a sharpened arrow.
In his quiver He has hidden me,
(3) and He said to me,
"My servant, you [are]; ["my servant" is focused; Isaiah 41:8, 9; 42:1; 43:10; 44:1-2; 45:4]
Israel, whom in/by means of you I will glorified," [same phrase, preposition+verb Isaiah 44:23]
(4) while I said,
"For no reason I have labored;
For emptiness (Genesis 1:2)/nothingness (Isa 40:17, 23; 41:29; 44:9; 45:19) and futility (Ecc. 1:2), my strength I have spent. ["my strength" is focused]
However, my judgment [is] with Yahweh,
while my compensation [is] with my God/Elohim,"
(5) and now He has said-- Yahweh, The One forming me from the womb as a servant for him--
to return Jacob to himself,
while Israel to himself would be gathered,
that I would be honored/"heavied" in the eyes of Yahweh,
while my God has become my strength--
(6) He has said,
"Too light/trivial it is for you to be for me a servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
while the preserved ones of Israel to bring back,
and I hereby give you as a light to the nations, [the qatal is a performative speech act?]
to become my salvation/victory to the end of the earth.
So at this point in Isaiah 40-55, we have two servants. Originally, and this is especially Isaiah 42, we saw servant Israel, who is blind and deaf (Isaiah 42:1, 18-19 in particular). Servant Israel refuses to listen to God or his prophet. Servant Israel refuses to be a witness to the nations, and to teach the nations about God's rules (Isaiah 42:4). And we also have, in Isaiah 49, the servant prophet, who God is sending to fix servant Israel, and be a source of light and salvation to the nations. This servant is called Israel, and at the same time is also sent to Israel.
So the question we might find ourselves wrestling with, is this: Does God's pivot to the prophet servant change his plan for the nation servant (*Goldingay)? Is this the type of situation where God is ready to give up on his people, and start over with the prophet? Is this like when God was so mad at Israel after the golden calf, that God told Moses, "Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and make you into a great nation" (Exodus 32:10).
And the short answer to that, is "No." God is still committed to his people. And God shows his commitment to them through the prophet; the prophet isn't their replacement. This, I think, is half of what the oracle we are studying today "does." The other half of what this oracle does, is continue God's attempt to break through the people's stubbornness, and blindness, and deafness.
Now, before we really dive in, I should say something about how complicated, and huge, today's passage ought to be. By right, I should teach from Isaiah 49:7 all the way through Isaiah 50:3 today. But to do that, I'd have to rip off everyone, including myself, really badly, and I've just decided that I don't need to rush through this. So today we are just going to go through verse 14, and set ourselves up to try to grab the whole thing next week.
Let's start by reading just verse 7. This is a tiny little one verse prophetic message, from God, through his prophet, to his people. Now, when I say this, I'm already on really debated ground. People argue about who is being addressed, especially because at first it's not really obvious. But by the end, it's clear that the nation of Israel, God's servant as a whole, is being spoken to. It's not the prophet being addressed. And it's not a messianic prophecy either-- it's not directly about Jesus.
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A more detailed explanation:
This is verse 7:
(7) Thus has said Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One,
to the one whose life was despised (see NET Bible),
to the one detested by the nations (following LXX, van der Mere, against MT),
to a servant of rulers [Isaiah 52:5; *Shalom Paul]:
And the question is, who is "his." Who is the third person masculine singular?
I'm convinced that the verse 7 "Thus says Yahweh," as is typical in these chapters, marks the beginning of a new oracle. This one has two parts, "Thus says Yahweh," in vs. 7 and 8, but they are closely connected. And we find another third person masculine singular in verse 13, at the end of the oracle:
(13) Sing for joy, O heavens, [Isaiah 44:23; 52:9; 55:12]
and rejoice, O earth!
May they break forth-- the mountains-- in singing,
because Yahweh has comforted his people,
and He answered him (=Israel).
"Him," based on the parallelism of verse 13, is "his people" Israel. Yahweh comforts "his people," He answers "him."
The other main line of evidence in favor of "him" being the nation Israel is in verse 23. There, Lady Zion is promised that the nations will "bow down to her." This is the same verb as v. 7, showing the same connection.
As to why the "him" shouldn't be understood messianically, as a reference to Jesus, I'd say four things:
(1) I don't think Jesus would be called a "servant of rulers." Koole brings up this argument, and then dismisses it, but I think it's a legitimate weakness.
(2) I think the oracle runs from v. 7 through v. 13, and v. 9-13 are very obviously about the return from Babylonian exile. People like Jan Koole who try to read it messianically, put a break in the text halfway through verse 9, but I don't really think that's defensible. They grab as much of it as they can and have it still make sense, and then cut it off mid-oracle without any textual basis when it gets hard.
(3) I think Isaiah 49:1-6 can't be Jesus' words, because God doesn't give Jesus a bigger ministry after Jesus talks to God about how it's all been for nothing (see my sermon on Isaiah 49:1-6).
(4) I think much of the appeal to this is based on a mistranslation of the nations "worshipping" "him," and perhaps out of the desire to adopt a "Christ-centered" approach to the OT that tries to maximize the number of places we can find Jesus.
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So. Verse 7:
(7) Thus has said Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One,
to the one whose life was despised (see NET Bible),
to the one detested by the nations (following LXX, van der Mere, against MT; Isa. 60:14),
to a servant of rulers [Isaiah 52:5; *Shalom Paul]:
"Kings shall see,
and princes shall stand [Leviticus 19:32; Job 29:8; Judges 3:20; *Shalom Paul];
and/that they may bow down [Isaiah 49:23; *Paul],
because of Yahweh, who [is] reliable/trustworthy-- the Holy One of Israel--
and He has chosen you." [Isaiah 44:1, 2; 45:4]
Yahweh opens this oracle by describing himself in two ways. Yahweh is, first of all, Israel's redeemer. He is the close relative of Israel, who will pay off Israel's debts, and purchase them out of the indentured service to the nations. Second, Yahweh is Israel's ("his") Holy One.
Now, we rabbit trailed a few weeks ago about this idea of God being holy. And I argued that holiness isn't a way of talking about God's otherness, or separateness, or transcendence, or purity, or anything like that. Holiness has to do with radical consecration and dedication and commitment.
So for God to identify himself as being Israel's Holy One here isn't a way for him to say, "LOOK OUT EVIL SINNERS!" It's a way for God to reassure his people that His radical commitment to them hasn't changed. Yahweh is still all-in (and God's "holiness" is consistently used in connection with his rescuing them throughout these chapters).
This explanation of holiness is almost certainly still a pretty new idea for you, and one that still involves some mental gymnastics. So let me quote a commentator who I disagree with here, Jan Koole (Isaiah II, 31):
"The God of the Covenant is also the entirely Other One who persists in his demands and promises in an unfathomable way and so deserves to be praised and revered."
Do you see what Koole is doing here? Koole says that God's holiness has to do with his otherness, and the great distance between us and God. We can never really understand God, or his motives. And this inability on our part, is why God deserves to be praised and revered. Koole then goes on, to his credit, to point people in the right direction. He says these chapters "almost always uses the name 'Holy One of Israel' in words of salvation, God makes good his pledge of salvation in surprising ways."
When God wants to reassure people that He is committed to them, and that He will save them from Babylon, and bring them home, one of his preferred methods of describing himself is that He is Israel's Holy One. ["Holy One": Isaiah 40:25; 41:14; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 54:5; 60:14.]
So that's who Yahweh is.
Now, who is the one being addressed by the exilic prophet? I cheated, and told you it was the nation Israel, stuck in Babylonian exile. But look at how Israel is described: he's "detested," and he's a servant not of Yahweh (or, "not of Yahweh alone"), but (also) of rulers. The servant isn't under the right ownership (*Goldingay).
So Israel is in a low, humiliating state. And there's something very unnatural for God's people to be described as a servant of anyone other than God.
But what God promises, is that this will be reversed. In the place of humiliation, they will receive honor. Rulers will stand in their presence, to show respect (Job 29:8). And kings will bow down before them. Now, a few of you in your English Bibles probably read that "kings will worship him" (KJV and NKJV for sure, don't know about others). You read "worship," not "bow down." If you're reading that, you probably think there's no way this is talking about Israel. You think it must be talking about Jesus (and that verse 7 must be attached to verse 6, and be understood as a messianic prophecy).
But the idea of the verb is really more "bowing down." It's a way to show respect and honor with your posture. Sometimes, you do this toward God, and it is worship. But many other times, it's something you do to people. Let's turn to Genesis 29, and read the story about Isaac accidentally blessing the wrong son at the end of his life. He gets tricked, and gives the greatest possible blessing to Jacob, when it should've been to Esau:
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven
and of the fatness of the earth
and plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
The blessing Isaac offers, is that peoples-- nations-- will serve him, and that nations will-- same verb-- "bow down to" him.
So if you take a bird's eye view of Isaiah 49:7, you could say that what God promises his people, is that the blessing of Isaac will be restored. The day is shortly coming when all the nations will serve and bow down to the nation of Israel.
And God says, when you see this happen-- when you find yourself receiving honor from rulers and kings-- know that this happened because of Yahweh. This moment will be proof of two things-- that Yahweh, the One whose holiness means He is radically committed to you-- that Yahweh is reliable, and that He has chosen you for himself.
Let me just pause here, and offer something like an "Our Daily Bread" application off this for you.
In this age, some of Jesus' disciples receive honor. Some are like Billy Graham. Presidents rise to greet them. They bow to them, when they show up. Leaders show humility, physically, in their presence. Their advice is sought. Their prayers are welcomed.
Others of Jesus' disciples go through life despised, and humiliated. It doesn't mean they are doing something wrong. And the fact that there are Billy Grahams who are honored and successful doesn't mean those people are doing something wrong either. This is just how this age works (compare Hebrews 11:32-34 with Hebrews 11:35-38, which makes just this point).
But at some point, how this age works will change. All of us one day will receive honor and recognition from Jesus, for being faithful servants (Revelation 1-3). And we will receive honor and recognition from the nations as well. So if you find yourself in a place of humiliation, and shame, because of Jesus, this is the kind of verse that you can use as an encouragement to yourself. When you find yourself being disgraced, and humiliated, by coworkers, or by friends in school, know that this will someday be reversed. When liberal politicians want to call you right-wing domestic terrorists, know that this will b reversed. What God did for his people in exile, God will one day do for all of his people. And if you want an amazing picture of that, read Isaiah 60 (or Daniel 7, paying close attention to who the nations bow down to, and serve-- it's not who you think; Daniel 7:14, 18, 22, 27).
So that's verse 7, and that's the entirety of this first little prophetic oracle-- this word from God. Now, we start a second oracle, and this one builds on the first, kind of spiraling off of it.
Before starting it, I should just say that verses 8-9 are really tricky in Hebrew, and if you compare translations, you'll notice that they disagree a little bit, and you'll also notice that many of them disagree strongly with my translation. If your inner nerd is stimulated by that, I'd be happy to talk about that later with you. Let's read through about half of verse 9 to start:
(8) Thus has said Yahweh: [very close connections to Isaiah 42:6-7 in what follows]
"In a time of favor, I will answer you (following 1QIsaa, NIV, against MT, in translating as imperfects here and next line],
while in a day of salvation/victory I will help you--
I will rescue you,
and I will make you into a covenant people, [Isaiah 42:6; here and there an inverted construct]
by restoring/raising up the land, [God is doing these infinitive verbs; the "l"+infinitive describe "how"
He rescues and makes them a covenant people; for l" + infinitive
meaning something like "by" see Judges 9:56; 1 Kings 3:3; Ex.
20:8; Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar 39.11.3.ii]
by ["l"+ infinitive] giving as an inheritance the desolate inheritance, [Isaiah 49:19; 61:4; 62:4; 64:9]
(9) by ["l" + infinitive] saying to the prisoners,
"Come out!," [Isaiah 48:20]
[by saying] to the ones who [are] in the darkness, [Isaiah 42:7; contrast Isaiah 47:5; *Shalom Paul]
"Reveal yourselves!"
Let's pause here. God promises his people here-- the nation-- that He will make them into a covenant people (for details on how/why "covenant of people" is translated as "covenant people," see my sermon on Isaiah 42). We might be surprised by that, and think, "Isn't Israel already in a covenant with God?" But the idea, I think, is that in order for you to really be God's people, there are certain things that you need to have (and this really points forward toward Isaiah 50:1-3), and these are things they currently lack. From God's perspective, to be his covenant people, you need three things: (1) You need land-- you need a place of your own, where you can hang up your keys, and put your feet up, and call it "home" (Philippians 3:20). (2) You need your inheritance ("inheritance" language is really common in Paul, in particular; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). (3) You need freedom-- liberty-- from every enemy, and from everything that oppresses (Luke 4:18-19). You need other things, as well, obviously. You need God. You need to be in a binding covenant relationship with God. But these three things-- the land, their inheritance, their freedom-- are all things that they lack.
So what Israel needs at this point to really be God's covenant people, are the covenant blessings. They need the type of freedom ("prisoners" come out) that God gave his people through Moses. They need to return to the land that God gave his people through Joshua, and they need this land "restored." They need to stop being a people who live in the world's shadows. They need a lot, right? But I think if we grab all of this, and hold all of this together, that this is what God means, when He says He will "rescue" them and "make them a covenant people" (God is the subject and actor of all of these "l"+infinitives, not the servant.
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I think The Jerusalem Bible gets "l"+infinitives in Isaiah 49:8 right:
"Thus says Yahweh:
At the favourable time I will answer you,
on the day of salvation I will help you.
(I have formed you and have appointed you
as covenant of the people.)
I will restore the land
and assign you the estates that lie waste.
I will say to the prisoners, 'Come out',
to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.'
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Let's continue, starting at the middle of verse 9. As I read, think about Psalm 23, and God being a Good Shepherd:
Along the roads, they will feed, [Isaiah 40:11; Psalm 23]
while on every barren height, their pasturage [will be]. [Isaiah 41:18]
(10) They will not be hungry,
and they will not be thirsty, [Isaiah 48:21]
and they will not be struck with a scorching heat and the sun,
because The One loving them will lead them,
while to springs of water He will guide them--
(11) I will make all the mountains into a road,
while my highways will be built up (*van der Mere).
(12) LOOK! These ones, from far off, they will come,
while LOOK! These ones, from the north and from the west, [Isaiah 43:4; 60:4, 9; *Paul]
while these ones from the land of Syene! [part of upper Egypt, probably]
In these verses, God describes himself as a Good Shepherd, who will create a perfect pasturage for his people as they come home to the promised land.
Now, normally, the idea with being shepherd, is that some paths are better than others. A good shepherd knows where there is green grass at all times in the year. He knows where there's reliable water. And he knows how and when to shift a herd from areas that are more marginal, that are good in late spring or early in the summer, to areas where it gets really hot and dry in August. You save the best land for when it's the hottest and driest.
In these verses, God shows that He is a different type of Shepherd. There are two places you'd never expect to find much grass for your flock. The first, is alongside roads. By road sides, you're competing with every domestic animal passing through. You stop for a minute on a road to get something to eat or drink, and your cows and horses are going to help themselves to any grass they can find right there. The grass is eaten down to nothing, and the soil is going to be compacted, and not even want to grow anything.
The other place you'd never expect to find much grass for your flock is along barren heights. Water quickly flows down, right? And when there is no shade, grass quickly withers. By definition, barren heights are never where a shepherd goes for pasturage.
God, as the Good Shepherd, promises his flock here, not that He will find a good path for them to come home. God promises his flock that He will make every possible route back to the land of Israel, in every direction, a perfect path. No matter where they come from, no matter which route they take, they will find plenty of food, and water. Every route home will look like a private golf course. And to this, God adds verse 7. Not only will the route have plenty of food and water, but they will also find that that the path is perfectly cleared, the whole way home (v. 11). There will be no getting lost, or taking a path that doesn't actually connect. There will be no wrong turns, and no dead ends. You won't find yourself at the edge of a mountain, with a massive drop off, wondering what to do. Every mountain will become a road (v. 11). God will bring all of you home.
So if you are an Israelite, trapped in Babylonian exile, do you hear this as good news? Do you find yourself thinking, "Perhaps we won't be servants of foreign kings forever; perhaps God will bring us back to the land of our ancestors, back to a restored home." Do you find yourself wanting to praise God, as the Creator, and Shepherd, and Hero who rescues you?
The speaker of all of this now breaks in (this is the prophet's voice, probably, based on the switch to speaking of Yahweh in the third person), and tells you that this is the natural response. When God rescues you, you worship.
Verse 13:
(13) Sing for joy, O heavens, [Isaiah 44:23; 52:9; 55:12]
and rejoice, O earth!
May they break forth-- the mountains-- in singing,
because Yahweh has comforted his people,
and He answered him (=Israel).
He will have compassion,
Amen? Hallelujah?
This is why we sing, every Sunday morning. We worship a God who doesn't just rescue us from sins. We worship a God who rescues us from all kinds of things, who provides for us, who brings all of his people home.
And so this call to worship goes out to all of creation, heaven and earth. The prophet here sounds like a worship pastor on a Sunday morning. "Let's worship!" Everyone is invited to join.
Verse 14:
(14) and (then) Zion (feminine singular) said,
"He has abandoned/forsaken me-- Yahweh, ["He has abandoned me" is focused; Isaiah 54:6, 7; 60:15; 62:4; 62:12],
while the Lord has forgotten me."
Zion here, is a way of describing the city of Jerusalem. And Zion refuses to join in this call to worship. Why worship Yahweh, when He's abandoned her? Why worship Yahweh, when He's forgotten her completely?
If there's one place we'd expect to see at the front of line, ready to worship God, it would be Zion. That's the place you'd go on pilgrimage every year to give sacrifice and worship to Yahweh. That's the place where God put his
name, as the place to pray toward (1 Kings 8). That's the place of worship. And Zion says "No."
Is this shocking?
My guess is that for some of you, this is the first verse today that's made any sense at all. You come to church to worship a God who has saved from your sins, and it doesn't seem like He's done much for you since then. You find yourself in desperate need, and cry out to God, and He doesn't answer. He doesn't help. When you hear the call to worship-- and when you are encouraged to sing out, and really praise God-- you smile through tears. Because you know that there is absolutely nothing to praise God for. Life is hard. You need God, and you've found out that God just isn't reliable. He's abandoned you in your greatest moment of need. And worse than that, God's forgotten you completely. You're like the song: "Now you're just somebody that God used to know."
So you get verse 14. This is your life. This is your experience of God. When someone stands up front, and tells you that Yahweh, your God, is radically committed to you, that He will free you from the things that make you a prisoner, that He will provide for you, you think to yourself, "I used to believe that." When someone invites you to worship, you think to yourself, "I used to do that." And now you're just here. And you can't wait to go home, and numb the pain with football, or something.
Anyone?
If that's you, then next week's message is especially for you. Hopefully, we'll see you next week.
But I just want you to leave today, honestly, feeling totally blind-sided and wrecked. It's really easy as a teacher to talk about God's radical commitment to his people, and how much God loves you. But any time that's taught, it's taught to at least some people who are hurting, and broken, and have given up on the idea that God can be trusted for anything other than eternal life.
In verse 14, God acknowledges this pain, and this despair. And next week, we'll see if God perhaps has some solution to that.
Translation with Notes (I figured out again how to transfer my footnotes to sermoncentral as endnotes. This is a tricky passage that was a real struggle for me, so I thought I'd include them on this sermon):
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Verse 7:
(7) Thus has said Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, His holy one,[1]
to the one whose life[2] was despised (see NET Bible),[3]
to the one detested by the nations[4] (following LXX, van der Mere, against MT),[5]
to a servant of rulers [Isaiah 52:5; *Shalom Paul]:
"Kings shall see,[6]
and princes shall stand [Leviticus 19:32; Job 29:8; Judges 3:20; *Shalom Paul];
and/that[7] they may bow down [Isaiah 49:23; *Paul],
because of Yahweh, who [is] reliable/trustworthy-- the Holy One of Israel--
and He has chosen you."[8] [Isaiah 44:1, 2; 45:4]
[1] so it's not like Israel as a nation is rejected. Israel is still his picked out, holy one. Also, a good example of how "Holy One" is used most commonly in connection with salvation. Not about God's otherness, but about his commitment.
[2] Shalom Paul: "For ??? indicating one’s own person, one’s self, see 47:14."[2]
[3] van der Mere: "The NET Bible note: “The Hebrew text reads literally, “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with 1QIsa ?????, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, ????????, “to the one despised with respect to life” (???? is a genitive of specification). The consonantal sequence ?? was probably misread as ? in the MT tradition”.[3] ME: So, "to the one whose life was despised," The MT would mean, "to the one despising life" (Psalm 22:25; 69:34).
[4] "Nations" here is singular, but based on Isaiah 55:5, where it's used twice, "goy" can be used collectively to describe nations plural. In the second use in 55:5, it's used with a plural noun. So also Motyer, who without defending it says it's "used here as a generic term for the world outside Israel."
[5] van der Mere: The Piel participle ????????? (“to the one who abhors”) does not fit contextually. The Septuagint changes the form to the Pual ????????? “to the one abhorred”.[5]
[6] Shalom Paul: "For the sovereign rule of Israel over the nations, see v. 23; 60:2–7, 11, 14; 61:6."[6]
[7] weyiqtol.
[8] So a short message in verse 7 of encouragement, followed by a much longer one in verse 8, which is then contrasted with what Israel says in verse 14.
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Verse 8-9:
(8) Thus has said Yahweh: [very close connections to Isaiah 42:6-7 in what follows]
"In a time of favor, I will answer you (following 1QIsaa, NIV, against MT, in translating as
imperfects here and next line],
while in a day of salvation/victory I will help you--[1]
I will[2] rescue you,
and[3] I will make you into[4] a covenant people, [Isaiah 42:6; an inverted construct][5]
by restoring/raising up the land,
[God is doing these infinitive verbs, how He rescues and makes them a covenant people][6]
by giving as an inheritance[7] the desolate inheritance, [Isaiah 49:19; 61:4; 62:4; 64:9][8]
(9) by saying to the prisoners,
"Come out!," [Isaiah 48:20]
to the ones who [are] in the darkness, [Isaiah 42:7; contrast Isaiah 47:5; *Paul]
"Reveal yourselves!"[9]
Along the roads, they will feed, [Isaiah 40:11]
while on every barren height, their pasturage [will be]. [Isaiah 41:18][10]
[1] Paul: For the servant (i.e., Israel) as the recipient of divine aid, see 41:10, 13, 14; 44:2; 50:7, 9.[1]
[2] weyiqtol. Capable of several readings. Shalom Paul understands these as parenthetical, unpacking God's commitment to answering and saving. This is how He will do it; this is what it will look like. That's what I'm following here.
[3] weyiqtol.
[4] DCH: (2) with object + "L," into, as (Gn 17:6, 20; 48:4; Ex 7:1; Nm 5:21; Dt 28:13; Jos 17:13; 1 K 8:50; Is 40:23; 42:6, 24(Qr) 43:28; 49:6, 8; Jr 1:18; 5:14; 9:10; 12:10; 15:4, 20; 20:4; 24:9; 25:18; 26:6; 29:18; 30:16; 34:17; 51:25; Ezk 5:14; 7:20; 23:46; 25:5, 7; 26:4, 14; 28:18; 29:10; 33:2; Jl 2:17; Mc 6:16; Zp 3:20; Ps 106:46; Dn 1:9; Ne 3:36; 1 C 17:22; 2 C 7:20; 8:9; 9:8; 2 C 25:16; 29:8; 30:7; 35:25; 1QH 1510; 4QDiscourse 2.26; 4QBarka 1.29 GnzPs 210).[4]
[5] For inverted constructs, see Avi Shmidman, "Hebrew Piyyut and its Byzantine Greek Influences: The Case of the Inverted Construct Form." It's available on academia.edu if you do a google search, and give them your email.
[6] echoes of Abraham's story here. To be God's covenant people, certain requirements really need to be met on God's end. Freedom, an inheritance, land.
[7] He will do what Joshua did. DBL: (hif) bestow an inheritance (Dt 1:38; 3:28; 12:10; 19:3; 21:16; 31:7; 32:8; Jos 1:6; 1Sa 2:8; 1Ch 28:8; Pr 8:21; 13:22; Isa 49:8; Jer 3:18; 12:14; Eze 46:18; Zec 8:12+);[7]
[8] Paul: “Allotting anew the desolate holdings”—God shall resettle the returning Israelites on their forefathers’ holdings, which remained desolate since the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. For Israel as deserted and uninhabited, see v. 19; 61:4; 62:4; 64:9.[8]
[9] like people who have been living in caves and tunnels, "Come out into the light; it's okay now."
[10] low lands are usually the place you find grass, since water flows down. If there's food up high, there's food everywhere. Green like the spring.
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Verse 10:
(10) They will not be hungry,
and they will not be thirsty, [Isaiah 48:21]
and they will not be struck with a scorching heat and the sun,
because The One loving them will lead them,
while to springs of water He will guide them--[4]
[4] DBL: 5633 ????? (na·hal): v.; = Str 5095; TWOT 1312—1. LN 15.165–15.186 (piel) guide, lead, i.e., cause linear movement by actions of leadership and direction, implying a follower willing to be led (Ex 15:13; 2Ch 28:15; Ps 23:2; 31:4[EB 3]; Isa 40:11; 49:10; 51:18+);[4]
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Verse 11-12:
(11) I[1] will make all the mountains into a road,[2]
while my highways will be built up (*van der Mere).[3]
(12) LOOK! These ones, from far off, they will come,
while LOOK! These ones, from the north and from the west, [Isaiah 43:4; 60:4, 9; *Paul]
while these ones from the land of Syene![4]
[1] weqatal. Here again, probably parenthetical.
[2] Every single place becomes a path home. A freeway as wide as the land itself. The way is wide.
[3] BDB glosses on this verse: "put in order."
[4] "Syene" is debated. I'm content to trust Shalom Paul here: "Hebrew ????? refers to Syene, modern-day Aswan, located on the southernmost tip of Upper Egypt, opposite the island of Elephantine. This city, mentioned also in Ezek 29:10; 30:6 (???????), 15, 16 (????), is referred to in the Elephantine documents as ????? ????????? (“the fortress Syene”). (See, e.g., Porten and Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents, 1:68, 71, A4.7 recto 7.)[4]
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Verse 12-13:
(13) Sing for joy, O heavens, [Isaiah 44:23; 52:9; 55:12]
and rejoice, O earth!
May they break forth-- the mountains-- in singing,
because Yahweh has comforted[1] his people,
and He answered him (=Israel).[2]
He will have compassion,
[1] Paul: Instead of MT ????? (past tense), 1QIsaa has the participle ????.[1]
[2] There it is! A third masculine singular, so verse 8 is for sure addressed to Israel.
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Verse 14:
(14) and (then)[1] Zion (feminine singular) said,
"He has abandoned/forsaken me-- Yahweh, ["He has abandoned me" is focused; Isaiah 54:6, 7; 60:15; 62:4; 62:12],
while the Lord has forgotten me."[3]
[1] wayyiqtols usually have a mild successive sense. This happened, and then this, and then this. So basically, the call goes out to worship, and then Zion says "no."
[3] to be forgotten, is worse than being forsaken. Like the song, Israel is someone God used to know.
