Isaiah 49: A Light to the Gentiles

"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb… And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword… and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought" (49:1–4).

"And 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" (v. 6).

"But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can 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. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me" (vv. 14–16).

Exiles and the end of the earth

By the late 6th century Judeans lived in Babylonia, Egypt (Elephantine, near Syene/Aswan), and elsewhere. "These from the land of Sinim" (49:12) has been read as China (an old guess) but is most likely Syene; the Great Isaiah Scroll's "Syenians" (described from a transcription) supports that. "The end of the earth" in Isaiah is the horizon of the known world, not a modern map.

"Israel" who restores Israel (49:3, 5–6)

Verse 3 names the servant Israel; verses 5–6 give him a mission to Israel. Interpreters resolve the tension differently: the servant is the faithful Israel (or the prophet) who represents and restores the whole people; or an individual who embodies Israel's calling; or (a minority proposal) "Israel" in v. 3 was added by a scribe, since one late Hebrew manuscript lacks it (reported). All ancient witnesses read "Israel" there, including the Great Isaiah Scroll, 1QIsa-b and 4QIsa-d (described from transcriptions), the Greek and the Vulgate. See "Who Is the Servant?"

A light to the nations in the New Testament

In Luke 2:32 Simeon, holding the infant Jesus, calls him "a light to lighten the Gentiles" (echoing 42:6 and 49:6). In Acts 13:47 Paul and Barnabas apply 49:6 to their own mission: "For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles." In 2 Corinthians 6:2 Paul quotes 49:8, "Behold, now is the accepted time." The same verse is applied to Jesus, to apostles, and to the present moment: three different uses, not one.

Mother and engraver

"Can a woman forget her sucking child?" (49:15) and "as one whom his mother comforteth" (66:13) are among the Hebrew Bible's clearest maternal images for God. "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands" (49:16) may refer to marks or names inscribed on the hand (compare 44:5). Zion personified as a bereaved mother runs through 49–54.