Isaiah Institute Translation
Isaiah 43
- a28 Hebrew śārê qōdeš, the princes of the sanctuary, emended to ᶜārê qōdeš; compare 47:6; 64:10.
King James Version
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Isaiah Institute Translation
IIT
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Masoretic Text
HEB
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But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. | 1 | But now, thus says Jehovah—he who formed you, O Jacob,he who created you, O Israel:Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.I have called you by name; you are mine. | וְעַתָּה כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה בֹּרַאֲךָ יַעֲקֹב וְיֹצֶרְךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אַל־תִּירָא כִּי גְאַלְתִּיךָ קָרָאתִי בְשִׁמְךָ לִי־אָתָּה ׃ |
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. | 2 | When you cross the waters, I will be with you;when you traverse the rivers,you shall not be overwhelmed.Though you walk through the fire,you shall not be burned;its flame shall not consume you. | כִּי־תַעֲבֹר בַּמַּיִם אִתְּךָ־אָנִי וּבַנְּהָרוֹת לֹא יִשְׁטְפוּךָ כִּי־תֵלֵךְ בְּמוֹ־אֵשׁ לֹא תִכָּוֶה וְלֶהָבָה לֹא תִבְעַר־בָּךְ ׃ |
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. | 3 | For I Jehovah am your God,I, the Holy One of Israel, am your Savior;Egypt I have appointed as ransom for you,Cush and Seba I give in place of you. | כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל מוֹשִׁיעֶךָ נָתַתִּי כָפְרְךָ מִצְרַיִם כּוּשׁ וּסְבָא תַּחְתֶּיךָ ׃ |
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. | 4 | Because you are precious and revered in my eyes,and because I love you,I give men in return for you,peoples in exchange for your life. | מֵאֲשֶׁר יָקַרְתָּ בְעֵינַי נִכְבַּדְתָּ וַאֲנִי אֲהַבְתִּיךָ וְאֶתֵּן אָדָם תַּחְתֶּיךָ וּלְאֻמִּים תַּחַת נַפְשֶׁךָ ׃ |
Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; | 5 | Do not fear, for I am with you.I will bring your offspring from the eastand gather you from the west; | אַל־תִּירָא כִּי אִתְּךָ־אָנִי מִמִּזְרָח אָבִיא זַרְעֶךָ וּמִמַּעֲרָב אֲקַבְּצֶךָּ ׃ |
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; | 6 | I will say to the north, Give up!to the south, Withhold not!Bring my sons from afarand my daughters from the end of the earth— | אֹמַר לַצָּפוֹן תֵּנִי וּלְתֵימָן אַל־תִּכְלָאִי הָבִיאִי בָנַי מֵרָחוֹק וּבְנוֹתַי מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ ׃ |
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. | 7 | all who are called by my name,whom I have formed, molded and wroughtfor my own glory. | כֹּל הַנִּקְרָא בִשְׁמִי וְלִכְבוֹדִי בְּרָאתִיו יְצַרְתִּיו אַף־עֲשִׂיתִיו ׃ |
Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. | 8 | Let go the people who are blind, yet have eyes,who are deaf, yet have ears. | הוֹצִיא עַם־עִוֵּר וְעֵינַיִם יֵשׁ וְחֵרְשִׁים וְאָזְנַיִם לָמוֹ ׃ |
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth. | 9 | When all nations unitedly assembled,when the peoples were gathered together,who among them foretold these things,or predicted events that have come to pass?Let them bring their witnessesand justify themselves,that those within hearing may say, It is true. | כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם נִקְבְּצוּ יַחְדָּו וְיֵאָסְפוּ לְאֻמִּים מִי בָהֶם יַגִּיד זֹאת וְרִאשֹׁנוֹת יַשְׁמִיעֻנוּ יִתְּנוּ עֵדֵיהֶם וְיִצְדָּקוּ וְיִשְׁמְעוּ וְיֹאמְרוּ אֱמֶת ׃ |
Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. | 10 | But you are my witnesses, says Jehovah,my servant whom I have chosen,to the end that you may recognize it and believe me,and perceive that I was the one who foretold them—before me no god was formed,nor shall one exist after me. | אַתֶּם עֵדַי נְאֻם־יְהוָה וְעַבְדִּי אֲשֶׁר בָּחָרְתִּי לְמַעַן תֵּדְעוּ וְתַאֲמִינוּ לִי וְתָבִינוּ כִּי־אֲנִי הוּא לְפָנַי לֹא־נוֹצַר אֵל וְאַחֲרַי לֹא יִהְיֶה ׃ |
I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour. | 11 | I myself am Jehovah;apart from me there is no savior. | אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי יְהוָה וְאֵין מִבַּלְעָדַי מוֹשִׁיעַ ׃ |
I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange God among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. | 12 | It is I who foretold and wrought salvation,making it knownwhen there was no strange god among you.You are my witnesses, says Jehovah,that I am divine, | אָנֹכִי הִגַּדְתִּי וְהוֹשַׁעְתִּי וְהִשְׁמַעְתִּי וְאֵין בָּכֶם זָר וְאַתֶּם עֵדַי נְאֻם־יְהוָה וַאֲנִי־אֵל ׃ |
Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? | 13 | that from the first I have been present—from my hand none can deliver;when I work, who can thwart it? | גַּם־מִיּוֹם אֲנִי הוּא וְאֵין מִיָּדִי מַצִּיל אֶפְעַל וּמִי יְשִׁיבֶנָּה ׃ |
Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. | 14 | Thus says Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel,your Redeemer:For your sake I launch an attack on Babylonand bring down as fugitives all the Chaldeans,they who sing the praises of shipping. | כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה גֹּאַלְכֶם קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמַעַנְכֶם שִׁלַּחְתִּי בָבֶלָה וְהוֹרַדְתִּי בָרִיחִים כֻּלָּם וְכַשְׂדִּים בָּאֳנִיּוֹת רִנָּתָם ׃ |
I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. | 15 | I Jehovah, your Holy One,Creator of Israel, am your King. | אֲנִי יְהוָה קְדוֹשְׁכֶם בּוֹרֵא יִשְׂרָאֵל מַלְכְּכֶם ׃ |
Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; | 16 | Thus says Jehovah—who provides a way in the Sea,a path through the mighty waters, | כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הַנּוֹתֵן בַּיָּם דָּרֶךְ וּבְמַיִם עַזִּים נְתִיבָה ׃ |
Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. | 17 | who dispatches chariots and horses,armies of men in full strength;they lie down as one, to rise no more,they flicker and die, snuffed out like a wick— | הַמּוֹצִיא רֶכֶב־וָסוּס חַיִל וְעִזּוּז יַחְדָּו יִשְׁכְּבוּ בַּל־יָקוּמוּ דָּעֲכוּ כַּפִּשְׁתָּה כָבוּ ׃ |
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. | 18 | Never mind the prophecies of bygone events;do not dwell on things of the past. | אַל־תִּזְכְּרוּ רִאשֹׁנוֹת וְקַדְמֹנִיּוֹת אַל־תִּתְבֹּנָנוּ ׃ |
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. | 19 | See, I do a new thing; it is now springing up.Surely, you are aware of it:I am making roads through the desert,streams in the wasteland. | הִנְנִי עֹשֶׂה חֲדָשָׁה עַתָּה תִצְמָח הֲלוֹא תֵדָעוּהָ אַף אָשִׂים בַּמִּדְבָּר דֶּרֶךְ בִּישִׁמוֹן נְהָרוֹת ׃ |
The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. | 20 | The wild beasts do me honor,the jackals and birds of prey,for bringing water to the wilderness,streams to the dry land,that I may give drink to my chosen people, | תְּכַבְּדֵנִי חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה תַּנִּים וּבְנוֹת יַעֲנָה כִּי־נָתַתִּי בַמִּדְבָּר מַיִם נְהָרוֹת בִּישִׁימֹן לְהַשְׁקוֹת עַמִּי בְחִירִי ׃ |
This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. | 21 | the people I formed for myselfto speak out in praise of me. | עַם־זוּ יָצַרְתִּי לִי תְּהִלָּתִי יְסַפֵּרוּ ׃ |
But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. | 22 | But you do not call upon me, O Jacob;you have grown weary of me, O Israel. | וְלֹא־אֹתִי קָרָאתָ יַעֲקֹב כִּי־יָגַעְתָּ בִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל ׃ |
Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. | 23 | Yet I required not that you bring meofferings from your flocksor pay me homage by sacrificial slaughter;I have not burdened you with oblationsor wearied you with burning incense. | לֹא־הֵבֵיאתָ לִּי שֵׂה עֹלֹתֶיךָ וּזְבָחֶיךָ לֹא כִבַּדְתָּנִי לֹא הֶעֱבַדְתִּיךָ בְּמִנְחָה וְלֹא הוֹגַעְתִּיךָ בִּלְבוֹנָה ׃ |
Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. | 24 | Nor have I burdened you to buy methe fragrant calamusor sate me with the fat of immolations.Yet you have burdened me with your sins,wearied me with your iniquities. | לֹא־קָנִיתָ לִּי בַכֶּסֶף קָנֶה וְחֵלֶב זְבָחֶיךָ לֹא הִרְוִיתָנִי אַךְ הֶעֱבַדְתַּנִי בְּחַטֹּאותֶיךָ הוֹגַעְתַּנִי בַּעֲוֹנֹתֶיךָ ׃ |
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. | 25 | But it is I myself, and for my own sake,who blot out your offenses,remembering your sins no more. | אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מֹחֶה פְשָׁעֶיךָ לְמַעֲנִי וְחַטֹּאתֶיךָ לֹא אֶזְכֹּר ׃ |
Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. | 26 | Recount for me the past;let us plead each our case.Speak up and vindicate yourself. | הַזְכִּירֵנִי נִשָּׁפְטָה יָחַד סַפֵּר אַתָּה לְמַעַן תִּצְדָּק ׃ |
Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. | 27 | Your first father transgressed;your spokesmen sinned against me. | אָבִיךָ הָרִאשׁוֹן חָטָא וּמְלִיצֶיךָ פָּשְׁעוּ בִי ׃ |
Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches. | 28 | Therefore I let athe holy citiesa be profaned;I gave Jacob to be ostracized, Israel to execration. | וַאֲחַלֵּל שָׂרֵי קֹדֶשׁ וְאֶתְּנָה לַחֵרֶם יַעֲקֹב וְיִשְׂרָאֵל לְגִדּוּפִים ׃ |
וַיְהִי בִּימֵי אָחָז בֶּן־יוֹתָם בֶּן־עֻזִּיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה עָלָה רְצִין מֶלֶךְ־אֲרָם וּפֶקַח בֶּן־רְמַלְיָהוּ מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל יְרוּשָׁלִַם לַמִּלְחָמָה עָלֶיהָ וְלֹא יָכֹל לְהִלָּחֵם עָלֶיהָ ׃ | |
King James Version
KJV
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Isaiah Institute Translation
IIT
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And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. |
When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not overpower it. |
Apocalyptic Commentary |
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Two generations of kings from the time Isaiah receives his prophetic commission, an expansionist Assyria threatens to invade the kingdom of Aram (Syria), the ten-tribed Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah and to annex them into its empire. When King Ahaz of Judah refuses to join Aram and Israel in an alliance to resist Assyria, they invade the Southern Kingdom to overthrow Ahaz and put a puppet ruler on his throne who will join their coalition. Ahaz, moreover, becomes an important type in the Book of Isaiah of an end-time ruler who proves disloyal to Israel’s God. |
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Apocalyptic Commentary
Isaiah 43
As in this instance, a chaos motif to end a chapter and a creation motif to begin a chapter characterizes Isaiah’s chiastic pattern of alternating chaos and creation motifs that spans chapters 41-46. Affirming Jehovah’s role as Creator of all things—as an unending source of creation, not only in the past but also in the future—this pattern by its very nature defines creation as re-creation, as deconstruction followed by reconstruction and degeneration followed by regeneration. He who created Jacob/Israel as his covenant people is able to re-create them on higher spiritual levels stretching into eternity.
Jehovah’s admonition, “Do not fear!” forms a word link to Isaiah 41:8-14, in which Jacob/Israel is invited to return from the end of the earth. That return occurs in an exodus to Zion from the four directions of the earth (vv 5-6; Isaiah 11:11-12; 49:11-12). Jacob/Israel qualifies for such physical deliverance upon being spiritually “redeemed” by Jehovah and by his people’s accepting his redemption (Isaiah 44:21-22; 48:20-21; 51:10-11). Jehovah’s calling them “by name” and claiming them as “mine” signifies ascent to a higher spiritual level, which the Jacob/Israel category is now invited to undertake.
If Jehovah’s people of the Jacob/Israel category will trust in Jehovah in the face of mortal threats as did the people of Hezekiah—and by that means ascend to higher spiritual categories as they did (Isaiah 37:22)—the very elements that may stand in the way on their return from exile will yield to them. The same fire that destroys the wicked (Isaiah 42:25; 47:14; 66:15-16) will preserve them alive (Isaiah 33:14-16; cf. Daniel 3:19-29). As they pass Jehovah’s test of their loyalty, he will be “with” them as he was with Hezekiah and his people against the king of Assyria (v 5; Isaiah 37:35; 38:6; 41:10).
The expression “your God” reasserts the covenant bond that binds Jehovah to his people (Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 26:12). Its parallel, “your Savior,” affirms that Israel’s God, not some other, is their Savior (v 11; Isaiah 45:21; 49:26; 60:16; 63:8-9). Although other saviors exist, such as Jehovah’s servant and his associates, they only qualify Jehovah’s people for salvation; they don’t themselves save them (Isaiah 19:20; 37:35; 63:9, 17; 65:8). Other peoples become a “ransom” for them when the king of Assyria/Babylon slays the nations among whom they live, thinking he slays Jehovah’s people also.
Even though the world may live in fear of the king of Assyria/Babylon and the nations yield to panic, Jehovah’s people need have no fear: “‘It is I who create the smith who fans the flaming coals, forging weapons to suit his purpose; it is I who create the ravager to destroy. Whatever weapon is devised against you, it shall not succeed; every tongue that rises to accuse you, you shall refute. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and such is their vindication by me,’ says Jehovah” (Isaiah 54:16-17). No matter how bleak their prospects may appear, his people have only to trust in their God.
Unlike Israel’s exodus out of Egypt, the end-time exodus of Jehovah’s people is from all parts of the earth: “He will raise the ensign to the nations and assemble the exiled of Israel; he will gather the scattered of Judah from the four directions of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12). Like the exodus out of Egypt, however, the end-time exodus of Jehovah’s people is out of bondage, compelling the north—Assyria—to “give up”; and the south—Egypt—to “withhold not.” Jehovah’s servant follows the pattern of Moses, whom Jehovah chose as Israel’s deliverer (Exodus 3-13; Isaiah 10:24-27; 49:9, 24-25; 63:11-14).
Those who ultimately participate in the new exodus from the four directions of the earth pertain to Isaiah’s son/servant category and are identified as Jehovah’s “sons” and “daughters” (Isaiah 49:22). That implies that from the time Jehovah’s servant commences his ministry to the Jacob/Israel category, those who were formerly blind and deaf have, in the interim, ascended not only to the Zion/Jerusalem category but beyond that (Isaiah 29:18-19; 35:5; 42:7, 18-21). In other words, they have been re-created—“formed, molded, and wrought”—to an elect category of Jehovah’s people (cf. Matthew 24:31).
Persons in Isaiah’s son/servant or elect category make individual covenants with Jehovah in the pattern of King David and his heirs. Under the terms of the Davidic Covenant, they become Jehovah’s vassals and saviors in their own right as was King Hezekiah. As noted, the servant’s role “to open eyes that are blind” (Isaiah 42:7) involves soliciting the release of Jehovah’s blind and deaf people from bondage in the pattern of Moses: “Let my people go!” (Exodus 5:1). On this occasion, however, the servant doesn’t petition Pharaoh for Jacob/Israel’s release but the nations who keep them captive.
The servant’s mission to “all nations” (Isaiah 11:10-12; 41:2; 42:1, 6; 45:1, 13; 49:6, 22; 52:10, 15; 55:4) implies that his restoration of Jehovah’s people dispersed among the nations gains worldwide notoriety. Likewise, just as Moses won the attention of Israel’s tribes in Egypt when he petitioned Pharaoh for their release, so the servant gains the attention of the Jacob/Israel category of Jehovah’s people at the time he fulfills his mission. A key premise of the servant’s platform are the prophecies that foretell Jehovah’s restoration of his people, which no one among the nations has predicted or suspected.
The next step toward the restoration of Jehovah’s people is for them to gain an awareness of who they are—of their true identity as covenant people of the God of Israel. Once they “recognize,” “believe,” and “perceive” that their restoration was foretold by prophets, and that now is the time of its implementation, they may resume their role as Jehovah’s collective “servant” or vassal and become “witnesses” of his truth (Isaiah 44:6-8; 45:20-22). Their very restoration as his people serves as proof that Jehovah alone—not the nations, their leaders, or their gods—is their God (Isaiah 45:4-6; 60:10-16).
As Jehovah is humanity’s only Savior, his people needn’t look elsewhere for their salvation, no matter what constraints or threats they come under. Nations and rulers may concoct their own plans for their peoples but they will come to nought. From the first, Jehovah conceived and planned his people’s salvation and their enemies’ damnation. As a proof of his divinity, he foretold his work of deliverance at the hand of his servant and of destruction at the hand of the archtyrant from of old (Isaiah 25:1; 37:26; 44:7-8; 46:9-13). Of these things, his people may gain a testimony and bear witness.
When there was no strange god among you. If they would again become Jehovah’s covenant people, they must give up the strange gods and false traditions they have inherited from the nations among who they are scattered. Such gods prove utterly useless: “Who would fashion a god or cast an idol that cannot benefit them?” (Isaiah 44:10). Those who “who carried about their wooden idols and prayed to gods that could not save them” (Isaiah 45:20) must worship Jehovah, “apart from [whom] there is no savior” (v 11). Instead of the traditions of their fathers it is his ways they must learn (Isaiah 2:3; 48:17).
The destruction of Jehovah’s enemies and the deliverance of his elect in a new exodus (vv 14-17) form the centerpiece of the chiastic structure of thirty alternating chaos and creation motifs in chapters 41-46. Those who subscribe to Greater Babylon’s materialistic economy—the manufacture, promotion, and sale of idols, the works of men’s hands—ultimately turn into “fugitives”—a chaos motif (Isaiah 45:16, 20). Depending on Greater Babylon’s worldwide shipping empire for their livelihood, they put their trust in what is destined to pass away (Isaiah 2:16; 13:19; 21:2, 9; 23:1-14; 47:1, 11).
Jehovah’s depiction as his people’s “Redeemer” identifies how he redeems them—in this case, by vanquishing their enemies the Chaldeans or Babylonians. His depiction as his people’s “King” attests to his emperor-vassal type of relationship with them and with individuals under the terms of the Sinai and Davidic Covenants. His designation as Israel’s “Holy One” expresses his role as the exemplar of his people. His designation as “Creator” of Israel—a creation motif—reflects his people’s re-creation on a higher level (v 1; Isaiah 44:21; 65:18), qualifying them for the deliverance that follows.
The creation motif of Jehovah as Creator-King (v 15) resumes with the exodus of Jehovah’s people out of Greater Babylon (v 16) at the center of the chaos-creation pattern. The forces of chaos—notably the archtyrant who personifies the Sea and “mighty waters” (Isaiah 8:7; 17:12-13; 28:2)—are subdued to let Jehovah’s elect pass through (Isaiah 11:15-16; 51:10-11; 63:11-13). Just as Israel’s deliverance from Egypt wasn’t complete until Pharaoh’s armies had drowned in the sea (Exodus 15:1-4), so the end-time deliverance of Jehovah’s people isn’t complete until their enemies are “snuffed out.”
The exodus of Jehovah’s elect out of Greater Babylon—out of all the world at the time of its desolation (Isaiah 13:1, 9, 11; 48:20-21; 52:11-12)—quintessentially expresses Jehovah’s redemption of his people. As ancient Israel was born as a nation following its exodus out of Egypt—covenanting with Jehovah in the wilderness to be his people and he their God (Exodus 19:5-8)—so, as a result of the servant’s mission, they are reborn as his covenant people following the new exodus. In that great reversal of circumstances those who didn’t respond to the servant’s mission, whose light remains dim, perish.
Because the prophecies that were fulfilled anciently relate to the end-time only as types, researching history isn’t as profitable as participating in the “new things” Jehovah is doing or is about to do. With the advent of his servant (Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 52:7-15), new realities come into being until the time Jehovah comes in his glory (Isaiah 48:6-7; 52:7-10; 62:1-12). One such “new thing” is the regenerating wilderness, in which Jehovah’s elect people dwell—those whom he “forms” or re-creates, who praise him for reversing covenant curses for their sake (Isaiah 12:4-6; 24:15-16; 42:10-12; 63:7).
In spite of the prospect of the imminent restoration of Jehovah’s people and the reversal of their circumstances, the Jacob/Israel category has difficulty “recognizing,” “believing,” and “perceiving” Jehovah’s promises (v 10). As the regenerating wilderness (vv 19-21) is a creation motif, so “weariness” (v 22) is a chaos motif, taking the form of “not calling” upon Jehovah to thank him or petition for oneself and for others as Jehovah’s servant does (Isaiah 41:25). Even without the requirement to sacrifice animals and make oblations, such weariness characterizes the Jacob/Israel category (Isaiah 40:27-30).
Although Jehovah hasn’t burdened or wearied his people, they have burdened and wearied him with their sins and iniquities. Nevertheless, as their Savior he takes their transgressions on himself in order to redeem them: “He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the price of our peace he incurred, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5; cf. 63:8-9). The expression “for my own sake” defines Jehovah’s role as a proxy savior under the terms of the Davidic Covenant. If his people will but repent, he will “blot out” their offenses and heal them (Isaiah 6:10; 44:22).
Unable to redeem themselves from the effects of their transgressions, Jehovah’s people have no recourse but to rely on Jehovah’s redemption. From Adam, their “first father,” to their present “spokesmen” or prophets, all have transgressed. If the Jacob/Israel category persists in sinning, covenant curses such as profanation, ostracism, and execration will continue to follow them (Isaiah 59:12-15; 64:6-11). But if they repent, Jehovah will redeem them, enabling them to ascend to higher spiritual categories: “He will come as Redeemer to Zion, to those of Jacob who repent of transgression” (Isaiah 59:20).