Isaiah
Chapter 49
The Second Song of the Servant: The Mission
Listen to me, O islands,pay attention, people from distant lands. The Lord called me from my mother’s womb; he pronounced my name before I was born.
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me into a polished arrow set apart in his quiver.
He said to me: “You are Israel, my servant, Through you, I will be known.”
“I have labored in vain,” I thought, “and spent my strength for nothing.” Yet what is due me was in the hand of the Lord, and my reward was with my God. I am important in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength.
And now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him.
He said: “It is not enough that you be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel. I will make you the light of the nations, that my salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”
Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to him whom people despise, to him whom nations abhor, to the servant of tyrants: “Kings will see you and stand up, and princes will bow down for the sake of the Lord, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
This is what the Lord says: “I have answered you at a favorable time, and on the day of salvation, I have been your help; I have formed you and made you my Covenant with the people. You will restore the land and allot its abandoned farms.
You will say to the captives: Come out, and to those in darkness: Show yourselves. They will feed along the road and find pasture on barren hills.
They will neither hunger nor thirst nor will the scorching wind or the sun beat upon them; for he who has mercy on them will guide them and lead them to water springs.
I will turn all my mountains into roads and raise up my highways.
See, they come from afar, some from the north and west, others from the land of Sinim.”
Sing, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth; break forth into song, O mountains: for the Lord has comforted his people and taken pity on those who are afflicted.
Consolation of Zion
But Zion said: “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.”
Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child of her womb? Yet though she forgets, I will never forget you.
See, I have written your name upon the palm of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Your sons hurry back, and those who laid you waste hasten to depart from you.
Lift up your eyes, look around and see: your children are all assembling and coming to you. As I live, says the Lord, you will wear them all as your jewels; they will adorn you as brides are adorned.
Your lonely places and your ruins, your wastelands and devastated country, will now be too small for your people, while those who destroy you will be driven off.
The children you will have, after those you lost, will also say in your hearing: “This place is too small for us. Give us more space to live in.”
You will then say in your heart: “Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, and who has brought these up? I was left alone, but these— where have they come from?”
Thus speaks the Lord God: See, I am to make signs to the nations; and to raise my banner to the people, that they will bring your sons in their arms, your daughters upon their shoulders.
Kings will be your foster fathers, their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground, licking the dust of your feet. Then you will know I am the Lord, and those who hope in me will not be ashamed.
Can booty be taken from a warrior or captives be rescued from a tyrant? But thus says the Lord:
Yes, captives will be taken from warriors and booty rescued from a tyrant: for I will fight whoever fights you, and I will save your children.
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh and be drunk with their own blood, as with wine. All peoples will know that I, the Lord, am your savior, your redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Commentaries
Second Song of the Servant: The Mission.
The servant of the Lord has the characteristics of the Messiah: he is chosen before he is born and remains hidden until his revelation (cf. Is 30:20). He is the man hidden for generations (2), revealed by John the Baptist, who will come to free all creation (Jn 1:26-34). The title “Servant of Yahweh” is sometimes used for Israel as a whole (Is 41:8-9; 43:10). However, repeatedly in Isaiah, as well as in other prophets and the book of Exodus (Ex 17:3-4; 32:9), the people are shown as rebellious and stubborn. The servant here, on the other hand, is a person whom the Lord is proud of (3) and who will redeem Israel (7). Also, in verses 5-7, the people and the servant are described as two separate entities: a) the servant, who is tasked with gathering, restoring, and redeeming; b) Israel, which benefits from the servant’s actions.
of Zion.
Personified as a woman abandoned by her husband, Jerusalem complains to the Lord (14). God assures Zion that her complaint is unfounded because his love and tenderness for her are even stronger than that of a mother for her child (15). Verse 17 addresses the exiles who return and face difficulties and hostility as they rebuild the city. They are as precious to the Lord as a bride’s jewels (18). God will bless them with many descendants (20), to the extent that the city will be amazed (21).