A Call to Praise and God's Guidance for the Blind
Isaiah 42:10-17
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Isa.42.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שירו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- שיר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חדש: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- תהלתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+SUFF,3,m,sg
- מקצה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- יורדי: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,pl
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- ומלאו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- איים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וישביהם: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,cons+SUFF,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 96:1 (verbal): Begins with the same command, “Sing to the LORD a new song,” calling for praise to God from among the nations.
- Psalm 98:1 (verbal): Also opens with “Sing to the LORD a new song,” celebrating God’s saving deeds—echoes the hymnic summons in Isaiah 42:10.
- Psalm 98:7–9 (thematic): Depicts the sea, rivers and hills rejoicing and the coastlands trembling—parallels Isaiah’s call that those who go down to the sea and its fullness praise the LORD.
- Revelation 5:9 (allusion): The redeemed sing a “new song” to God in an eschatological worship scene, drawing on the OT motif of a worldwide new song of praise.
- Isaiah 42:12 (structural): Close internal parallel within the chapter—both verses summon coastlands/islands and their inhabitants to give glory and praise to the LORD.
Alternative generated candidates
- Sing to the LORD a new song; his praise from the ends of the earth—those who go down to the sea and its abundance, the islands and their inhabitants.
- Sing to the LORD a new song; his praise from the ends of the earth—those who go down to the sea and all its fullness, the islands and their inhabitants.
Isa.42.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ישאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- מדבר: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- ועריו: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3,m
- חצרים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- תשב: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- קדר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ירנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ישבי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- סלע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מראש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הרים: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- יצוחו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 35:1-2 (verbal): The wilderness and desert rejoice and blossom—close verbal and thematic echo of the command that the wilderness, villages and inhabitants (Kedar, Sela) sing and shout.
- Isaiah 49:13 (verbal): ‘Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth’—another Isaiah passage calling creation and land to sing for joy, paralleling the summons to mountains and wilderness in 42:11.
- Psalm 96:11-12 (thematic): Calls on heavens, earth, sea and fields to ‘be glad’ and ‘sing’—a psalmic call for all creation to praise like Isaiah’s summons to wilderness and mountains.
- Psalm 98:7-8 (thematic): Imagery of sea, floods and hills making noise before the LORD aligns with Isaiah’s motif of natural and inhabited places shouting and rejoicing.
Alternative generated candidates
- Let the wilderness and its towns lift up their voice; let the villages of Kedar rejoice; let the inhabitants of Sela shout from the heights.
- Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice; let the villages of Kedar rejoice; let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud; from the summits of the mountains let them shout.
Isa.42.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ישימו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- כבוד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותהלתו: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+SUFF,3,m,sg
- באיים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יגידו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 42:10 (verbal): Immediate context: both verses call for a new song and praise to the LORD from the ends of the earth, linking the prophetic hymn and the summons to praise.
- Isaiah 42:11 (verbal): Parallel within the same stanza that specifically invokes the coastlands/isles and creatures to praise God—same imagery and audience as 42:12.
- Psalm 98:1-3 (thematic): Psalmic call to 'sing a new song' and for sea/coastlands to acknowledge God's salvation—echoes the summons for islands to declare the LORD's praise.
- Psalm 72:10-11 (thematic): Vision of distant kings and islands bringing tribute and bowing before the king—parallels the motif of distant/island peoples giving glory to God.
- Isaiah 45:23 (thematic): Universal homage motif ('every knee shall bow, every tongue swear') reflects the same theme of all peoples—including islands—recognizing and honoring the LORD.
Alternative generated candidates
- Let them give to the LORD glory, and declare his praise in the isles.
- Give to the LORD glory, and declare his praise in the islands.
Isa.42.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- כגבור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יצא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כאיש: PREP
- מלחמות: NOUN,f,pl,construct
- יעיר: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg
- קנאה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יריע: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אף: ADV
- יצריח: VERB,hiphil,impf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- איביו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,suff:3ms
- יתגבר: VERB,hitpael,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Exodus 15:3 (verbal): Both texts portray YHWH as a 'man of war'/'mighty warrior' who fights on behalf of his people; Exodus is the canonical ancient martial title echoed in Isaiah's warrior imagery.
- Psalm 24:8 (verbal): Calls the LORD 'strong and mighty' and 'mighty in battle,' echoing Isaiah's depiction of God going forth as a mighty warrior against enemies.
- Isaiah 59:17 (allusion): Isaiah elsewhere depicts God putting on armor and garments of vengeance—an internal Isaiah parallel to 42:13's martial, vengeful action.
- Isaiah 63:1-6 (thematic): Presents a theophany of God coming in wrath, treading the winepress and executing vengeance—same theme of divine battle and triumph over foes as in 42:13.
- Nahum 1:2-3 (thematic): Describes the LORD as jealous, avenging and mighty in wrath who rebukes and judges enemies—echoing the zealous, warlike action attributed to God in Isaiah 42:13.
Alternative generated candidates
- The LORD will march forth like a might man; like a warrior he will rouse his zeal—he will shout, he will cry aloud; he will prevail over his foes.
- The LORD will go forth like a hero; like a warrior he will stir up his zeal—he will cry aloud, he will shout; he will prevail over his enemies.
Isa.42.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- החשיתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- מעולם: ADV
- אחריש: VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- אתאפק: VERB,hith,impf,1,?,sg
- כיולדה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אפעה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואשאף: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,1,?,sg
- יחד: ADV
Parallels
- Isaiah 42:13 (structural): Immediate context: YHWH who has been silent now 'will cry out' and act like a warrior—42:14 continues and intensifies this shift from silence to a loud, decisive cry.
- Isaiah 13:8 (verbal): Uses the same childbirth/labor imagery ('in anguish like a woman in labor') to describe violent convulsion and distress—verbal and thematic parallel to 42:14’s labor metaphor.
- Isaiah 26:17-18 (thematic): Speaks of Israel (or the prophet) as a woman in travail, with the pain of labor and frustrated delivery—echoes the theme of prolonged silence/pain and eventual outcry in 42:14.
- Jeremiah 4:31 (verbal): Explicitly compares a prophetic/ministrative cry to the cry of a woman in labor, closely matching the simile and tone of 42:14.
- Romans 8:22 (thematic): Paul borrows the childbirth imagery—'the whole creation groans and suffers' like labor pains—to describe eschatological travail, reflecting the same motif of painful convulsion preceding divine renewal invoked in 42:14.
Alternative generated candidates
- Long have I kept silent, I held my peace and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor—I will gasp and pant together.
- Long I have kept silent; I restrained myself and held back—now I cry out like a woman in labor; I gasp and pant together.
Isa.42.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אחריב: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- הרים: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- וגבעות: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- עשבם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
- אוביש: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- ושמתי: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- נהרות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לאיים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ואגמים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אוביש: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
Parallels
- Nahum 1:4 (verbal): Speaks of God rebuking the sea and drying up rivers—closest verbal parallel about God making waters fail and drying up rivers and pools as an act of divine power/judgment.
- Psalm 107:33-36 (thematic): Describes God turning rivers into deserts and fruitful land into salt flats; parallels the theme of God altering waters and vegetation as judgment or providential sovereignty.
- Ezekiel 29:11 (thematic): God declares he will dry up the canals of Egypt and make the land desolate—similar image of God drying waterways and bringing desiccation as punitive action.
- Isaiah 43:16-20 (structural): Same prophetic tradition of God controlling waterways—contrasts making rivers into islands/drying pools (42:15) with making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, both emphasizing divine reordering of nature for judgment or salvation.
- Psalm 114:4-8 (thematic): Portrays mountains trembling and waters changing course at Yahweh's presence (sea fleeing, Jordan turning back)—echoes the motif of God shaking hills and altering waters in cosmic, deliverative language.
Alternative generated candidates
- I will make the mountains a roadway and the hills a plain; I will dry up their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
- I will make the mountains a desert and the hills a waste, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
Isa.42.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והולכתי: VERB,hiphil,perf,1,_,sg
- עורים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בדרך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- ידעו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- בנתיבות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- ידעו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- אדריכם: NOUN,m,pl,const+2,m,pl
- אשים: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- מחשך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לפניהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- לאור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומעקשים: CONJ+ADJ,m,pl
- למישור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אלה: DEM,pl,abs
- הדברים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- עשיתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- עזבתים: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 42:7 (structural): Immediate parallel within the Servant song: speaks of opening blind eyes and freeing prisoners—same motif of guiding the blind and bringing light out of darkness.
- Isaiah 35:5-6 (thematic): Parallel prophetic promise of restoration: the eyes of the blind are opened and the lame leap—both passages depict God reversing physical and spiritual darkness and making crooked paths straight.
- Isaiah 49:9-10 (verbal): Similar language of bringing sight to the blind and leading those in darkness and distress into safe pastures; shares imagery of guidance, provision, and deliverance from darkness.
- Acts 26:18 (verbal): Paul's commission uses language of opening eyes and turning people from darkness to light—echoing the Isaiah motif of divine guidance from ignorance/darkness into sight/light.
- Luke 1:79 (allusion): Zechariah's benediction speaks of giving light to those in darkness and guiding our feet into the way of peace, echoing Isaiah's themes of illumination and divine leading.
Alternative generated candidates
- I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness before them into light and crooked places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
- I will lead the blind in a way they do not know; in paths they have not known I will guide them. I will make darkness before them into light and crooked places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.
Isa.42.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- נסגו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אחור: ADV
- יבשו: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- בשת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הבטחים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- בפסל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האמרים: VERB,qal,ptcp,0,m,pl
- למסכה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- אלהינו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss:1,pl
Parallels
- Psalm 115:4-8 (verbal): Speaks of idols having mouths but not speaking and those who make them becoming like them—directly parallels Isaiah's condemnation of trust in mute, shameful carved images.
- Psalm 135:15-18 (verbal): Describes idols as silver and gold that have mouths but do not speak and that those who make and trust them become like them, echoing Isaiah's theme of the impotence and shame of idol-worshipers.
- Isaiah 44:9-20 (thematic): A sustained satire on idolatry—wood is used for fuel and then carved into a god—closely related in theme and imagery to Isaiah 42's denunciation of trusting in carved images.
- Isaiah 46:5-7 (thematic): Contrasts the living God with idols that must be carried and cannot save—reiterates Isaiah's point that idols are powerless and those who trust them are put to shame.
- Habakkuk 2:18-19 (verbal): Mocks the making and worship of idols and asks what profit they have, calling for the idol to be silent—parallels Isaiah's depiction of idolaters being confounded and the futility of their images.
Alternative generated candidates
- They shall turn back and be ashamed together—those who trust in graven images, who say to metal casts, “You are our gods.”
- They shall turn back and be put to shame—those who trust in idols, those who say to molten images, “You are our gods.”
Sing to the LORD a new song; his praise from the ends of the earth—those who go down to the sea and all its fullness, islands and their inhabitants.
Let the wilderness and its towns lift up their voice; the villages of Kedar, let them sing; let the inhabitants of Sela rejoice; from the heights of the mountains let them shout.
Give the LORD glory, and declare his praise in the islands.
The LORD will go out like a mighty one; like a warrior he will stir up zeal—he will cry out, he will shout; he will prevail over his enemies.
I have kept silent for a long time; I restrained myself—now I cry out like a woman in labor; I gasp and pant together.
I will make the mountains a desolation and the hills a waste; I will dry up all their vegetation. I will turn rivers into islands, and the pools I will make dry.
I will lead the blind by a way they do not know; in paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn darkness before them into light and make the rough places level. These things I will do—and I will not forsake them.
They will turn back and be put to shame—those who trust in carved images, who say to molten idols, 'You are our gods.'