Footnotes

1. Isaiah 50:4 tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”sn Verses 4-11 contain the third of the so-called servant songs, which depict the career of the Lord’s special servant, envisioned as an ideal Israel (49:3) who rescues the exiles and fulfills God’s purposes for the world. Here the servant alludes to opposition (something hinted at in 49:4), but also expresses his determination to persevere with the Lord’s help.
2. Isaiah 50:4 tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (ʿut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (ʿanot) from עָנָה (ʿanah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.
3. Isaiah 50:4 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”
4. Isaiah 50:5 tn Or perhaps, “makes me obedient.” The text reads literally, “has opened for me an ear.”
5. Isaiah 50:6 tn Or perhaps, “who beat [me].”
6. Isaiah 50:7 tn Heb “Therefore I set my face like flint.”
7. Isaiah 50:8 tn Heb “Let us stand together!”
8. Isaiah 50:8 tn Heb “Who is the master of my judgment?”
9. Isaiah 50:8 tn Heb “let him approach me”; NAB, NIV “Let him confront me.”