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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 49

Isaiah 49: the servant called from the womb and Zion told she is not forgotten

General context

A first-person speaker tells the isles that the Lord called him from the womb, made his mouth like a sharp sword, hid him as a polished shaft in his quiver, and told him, Thou art my servant, O Israel. The speaker says he has laboured in vain, yet his judgment is with the Lord. The Lord who formed him to bring Jacob back now says raising the tribes of Jacob is a light thing, and gives him as a light to the Gentiles. The Lord addresses one despised by man and abhorred by the nation, a servant of rulers, promising that kings will see and arise. In an acceptable time the Lord has heard him and gives him as a covenant of the people, to tell prisoners to go forth; the freed will not hunger or thirst, mountains will become a way, and people will come from far, including the land of Sinim. Heavens and earth are told to sing because the Lord has comforted his people. But Zion says the Lord has forsaken and forgotten her. The Lord answers that a woman may forget her nursing child but he will not forget Zion; her walls are graven on his palms. Her children will hasten back, her destroyers leave, and her waste places will be too narrow for the inhabitants, so that she asks who has begotten these. The Lord will lift his hand to the Gentiles, who will carry her sons and daughters; kings and queens will nurse her and bow to the dust. To the question whether prey can be taken from the mighty, the Lord answers that he will contend with her contenders, save her children, and feed her oppressors with their own flesh until all flesh knows he is her Saviour.

Cited passages: Isaiah 49:1, Isaiah 49:2, Isaiah 49:3, Isaiah 49:4, Isaiah 49:5, Isaiah 49:6, Isaiah 49:7, Isaiah 49:8, Isaiah 49:9, Isaiah 49:10, Isaiah 49:11, Isaiah 49:12, Isaiah 49:13, Isaiah 49:14, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 49:16, Isaiah 49:17, Isaiah 49:19, Isaiah 49:21, Isaiah 49:22, Isaiah 49:23, Isaiah 49:24, Isaiah 49:25, Isaiah 49:26

Isaiah 49 (KJV)

1Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

2And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

3And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

4Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

5And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.

6And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

7Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

8Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

9That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

10They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

11And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

12Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

13Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

14But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

15Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

16Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

17Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

18Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

19For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

20The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

21Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

22Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

24Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

25But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

26And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

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Historical context

The servant is named in this chapter and also given a task that complicates the name. In verse 3 the Lord says to the speaker, Thou art my servant, O Israel, and in verses 5 and 6 the same servant is formed to bring Jacob again to him and to restore the preserved of Israel. The text therefore calls the servant Israel and at the same time describes a work done toward Israel; it does not explain how both hold, and it gives the speaker no name other than Israel. Verse 7 addresses one whom man despiseth and whom the nation abhorreth, a servant of rulers, without naming him. Zion speaks at verse 14 and is described as a mother who has lost her children, desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro; the chapter gives no date and does not name the destroyers or the mighty from whom the prey is taken. The land of Sinim is named once and not located. Two later New Testament passages quote this chapter: Acts reports the words I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles as the Lord's command to us, and 2 Corinthians quotes the acceptable time and day of salvation, adding behold, now is the day of salvation. The violent close, oppressors fed with their own flesh, is stated as the Lord's promise, not as a narrated event.

Cited passages: Isaiah 49:3, Isaiah 49:5, Isaiah 49:6, Isaiah 49:7, Isaiah 49:14, Isaiah 49:21, Isaiah 49:12, Acts 13:47, 2 Corinthians 6:2, Isaiah 49:8, Isaiah 49:26

Literary context

The chapter has two halves joined by a burst of song. In the first, a servant speaks and the Lord replies; in the second, Zion speaks and the Lord replies. The word womb links them: the servant is called from the womb, formed from the womb, and the Lord asks whether a woman can forget the son of her womb. The servant's story moves from hidden to seen. He is hid in the shadow of the Lord's hand and in his quiver, then kings see him and arise. His complaint that he laboured in vain is not argued with but answered by an enlarged task, from Jacob's tribes to the ends of the earth. Zion's complaint, forsaken and forgotten, comes immediately after the heavens are told to sing, so the poem lets the doubt interrupt the celebration. The Lord answers with images of the body: palms engraved, walls always in view, children carried in arms and on shoulders, kings licking dust. Zion's own future words are scripted for her, both the children's the place is too strait for me and her own who hath begotten me these. The chapter ends with a question and answer, shall the prey be taken from the mighty, and the answer is yes, told in the language of blood.

Cited passages: Isaiah 49:13, Isaiah 49:1, Isaiah 49:5, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 49:2, Isaiah 49:7, Isaiah 49:4, Isaiah 49:6, Isaiah 49:14, Isaiah 49:16, Isaiah 49:22, Isaiah 49:23, Isaiah 49:20, Isaiah 49:21, Isaiah 49:24, Isaiah 49:26

Key moments

  1. Called from the womb (Isaiah 49:1). The speaker tells the isles that the Lord called him and named him before birth.
  2. Thou art my servant, O Israel (Isaiah 49:3). The Lord names the speaker his servant Israel, in whom he will be glorified.
  3. A light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6). The Lord enlarges the servant's task from Jacob's tribes to the end of the earth.
  4. Zion says she is forsaken (Isaiah 49:14). Zion voices her complaint that the Lord has forsaken and forgotten her.
  5. Graven on the palms (Isaiah 49:16). The Lord says Zion's walls are engraved on his hands and always before him.
  6. Who hath begotten me these? (Isaiah 49:21). Zion, who had lost her children, will ask where the new crowd of children came from.
  7. Prey taken from the mighty (Isaiah 49:25). The Lord promises to contend with Zion's contenders and save her children.

For reflection

The servant says he has laboured in vain, and Zion says she has been forgotten, and in neither case does the Lord deny the feeling; he answers with a larger task and an engraved palm. What does it mean to be answered without being contradicted?

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