Isaiah 42 is the forty-second

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

of the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amo ...

in both the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

, and is a part of the

Books of the Prophets The (; ) is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the () and (). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets ( ) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings ...

.Theodore Hiebert, et al. 1996. ''The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume VI''. Nashville: Abingdon. Chapters 40-55 are known as "Deutero-Isaiah" and date from the time of the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

' exile in Babylon. This chapter contains a poem known as the first of the "

Servant songs The servant songs (also called the servant poems or the Songs of the Suffering Servant) are four Music in the Bible, songs in the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible, which include Isaiah 42:1–Isaiah 42:4, 4; Isaiah 49; ; and –. The songs are fo ...

" about the servant, whom Jewish tradition holds that Isaiah identifies as either the Israelites themselves (, ''or l'goyim'') or Cyrus (in contrast to

Jewish Christian Jewish Christians were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Roman Judea during the late Second Temple period, under the Herodian tetrarchy (1st century AD). These Jews believed that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah and ...

and, thus, later

gentile ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...

tradition, as well as

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

tradition). Scholars such as

John Goldingay John Edgar Goldingay (born 20 June 1942) is a British Old Testament scholar and translator and Anglican cleric. He is the David Allan Hubbard Professor Emeritus of Old Testament in the School of Theology of Fuller Theological Seminary in Califo ...

, John Barton, and

John Muddiman John Muddiman (1947 – 5 December 2020) was a British academic and Anglican priest. He was the G. B. Caird Fellow in New Testament Theology at Mansfield College, Oxford, from 1990 until his retirement in 2012. Early life and education Muddima ...

also hold the view that the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

identifies the servant of the Servant songs as the Israelites in Is. 41:8-9; Is. 44:1; Is. 44:21; Is. 45:4; Is. 48:20 and Is. 49:3.Barton, John, and John Muddiman, eds. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press, 2007, 467-477Goldingay, John. The theology of the Book of Isaiah. InterVarsity Press, 2014, 61-74. The latter two write that "The idea of a 'servant' played a small part in the earlier chapters, being used as a designation of the unworthy Eliakim in 22:20 and of the figure of David in 37:35, but it now comes to the fore as a description of major significance, the noun being used more than 20 times in chs. 40-55. Its first usage is obviously important in establishing the sense in which we are to understand it, and here it is clear that the community of Israel/Jacob is so described."

Text

The original text was written in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

. This chapter is divided into 25 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex () is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, and was endorsed for its accuracy by Maimonides. ...

(10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

(3rd century BC or later): * 1QIsa^a: complete * 4QIsa^g (4Q61): extant verses 14‑25 * 4QIsa^h (4Q62): extant verses 2, 4‑11 * 4QIsaⁱ (4Q62^a): extant verses 4‑11 There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

known as the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century),

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century) and

Codex Marchalianus Codex Marchalianus, designated by siglum Q, is a 6th-century Greek language, Greek manuscript copy of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament) known as the Septuagint. It is now in the Vatican Library. The text was writte ...

(Q;

\mathfrak

^Q; 6th century).

Parashot

The ''

parashah The term ''parashah'', ''parasha'' or ''parashat'' ( ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian , Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book ...

'' sections listed here are based on the

. Isaiah 42 is a part of the ''Consolations (

Isaiah 40 Isaiah 40 is the fortieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and the first chapter of the section known as "Deutero-Isaiah" (Isaiah 40- 55), dating from the time of the Israelites' ex ...

–66)''. : open ''parashah''; : closed ''parashah''. : 42:1-4 42:5-9 42:10-13 42:14-17 42:18-25 3:1-10

Verse 1

:''"Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,'' :''My Elect One in whom My soul delights!'' :''I have put My Spirit upon Him;'' :''He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles."'' *Cross references: Isaiah 44:1, Jeremiah 30:10, Matthew 12:18 The

Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

each allude to verse 1 in their accounts of the

Baptism of Jesus The baptism of Jesus, the ritual purification of Jesus with water by John the Baptist, was a major event described in the three synoptic Gospels of the New Testament ( Matthew, Mark and Luke). It is considered to have taken place at Al-Maghta ...

, when the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

descends like a dove upon Jesus and a "voice from heaven" acclaims Him as "My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." ( Matthew 3:17; ; ).

Verse 3

:'' A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.'' In ,

Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...

, king of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

, had referred to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

as a "broken reed", criticising Israel's dependence on Egypt during the reign of

king Hezekiah Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Judah according to the Hebrew Bible. Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "Glossary", pp. 367–432 In the Bi ...

. *"Smoking" or "dimly burning" *"Quench" or "extinguish" from the Hebrew root: k-b-h (, ''kabah'', "to be quenched or extinguished, to go out"), is also used in Isaiah 1:31 and Isaiah 66:24 for: "the fire that shall not be quenched"; Isaiah 34:10: 'the fire devouring Edom "will not be quenched"'; as well as in 43:17: 'those who oppose the LORD'S path are "quenched like a wick"'.

Verse 4

:''He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.'' *"Be discouraged": from Hebrew: , ',Hebrew Text Analysis: Isaiah 42:4
Biblehub "bruised", from the root word "crushed" (, ''ratsats''), used to describe "crushed reed" (or "bruised reed") and "dim (, ''kahah'') wick" (or "smoking flax") in verse 3, repeated here for rhetorical effect. *"Isles" (

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

):from Hebrew: , ', "coastlands" (

ESV The English Standard Version (ESV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently pu ...

;

MEV In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV), also written electron-volt and electron volt, is the measure of an amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron accelerating through an electric potential difference of one volt in vacuum. When us ...

;

NET NET may refer to: Broadcast media United States * National Educational Television, the predecessor of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States * National Empowerment Television, a politically conservative cable TV network ...

;

NKJV The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English, working as a revision of the King James Version. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the ...

); "islands" (

NIV The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...

); "distant lands beyond the sea."( NLT) *"His law" (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV): from Hebrew: , ', "his decrees" (NET), "his instruction" (NLT).

Verse 7

:''To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.'' *"Blind eyes": both physical and spiritual (

Isaiah 29 Isaiah 29 is the twenty-ninth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah, and is one of the Book of the Prophets. The Jerusal ...

:18; 32:3; 35:5; 42:16, 18, 19; ),Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. '' Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible''
"Isaiah 42"
1871. here may specially be for spiritual blindness by the comment of verses 16–19Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)

In: ''The

Pulpit Commentary The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible first published between 1880 and 1919

''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019. (cf. Paul's calling in Acts 26:18). Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.) (1905)
''Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers''. Isaiah 42.
London : Cassell and Company, Limited,

905-1906 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019. This is in contrast to Isaiah's own mission (). *"To bring out the prisoners from the prison": cf. Isaiah 61:1- 2. Barnes, Albert
''Notes on the Bible'' - Isaiah 42
James Murphy (ed). London: Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998. For different aspects of "prison", see "prisoners of hope" in Zechariah 9:11, and the "spirits in prison" in 1 Peter 3:19.

New Testament

In Matthew 12:17– 21, Isaiah 42:1– 4 is cited as a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies in the life and work of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

: : ''And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:'' ::''"Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,'' :::''My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!'' ::''I will put My Spirit upon Him,'' :::''And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.'' ::''He will not quarrel nor cry out,'' :::''Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.'' ::''A bruised reed He will not break,'' :::''And smoking flax He will not quench,'' ::''Till He sends forth justice to victory;'' :::''And in His name Gentiles will trust."''

Islamic interpretation

Muslim tradition holds that Isaiah 42 predicted the coming of a servant associated with

Qedar The Qedarites () were an ancient Arab tribal confederation centred in their capital Dumat al-Jandal in the present-day Saudi Arabian province of Al-Jawf. Attested from the 9th century BC, the Qedarites formed a powerful polity which expande ...

, the second son of

Ishmael In the Bible, biblical Book of Genesis, Ishmael (; ; ; ) is the first son of Abraham. His mother was Hagar, the handmaiden of Abraham's wife Sarah. He died at the age of 137. Traditionally, he is seen as the ancestor of the Arabs. Within Isla ...

and who went on to live his life in ArabiaZepp, Ira G. (2000). ''A Muslim Primer: Beginner's Guide to Islam''. Vol. 1. University of Arkansas Press, p
50
Accessed 3 May 2024. (see ). also mentions that the people of "Sela" - interpreted here as the mountain of Sela near present-day

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

- would "sing for joy" and "shout from the mountain tops", and so interpret this passage as prophesising the coming of Prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

and his migration to

which was rejoiced by the Ansār and the Muhajirūn.Rubin, Uri (1995). ''The eye of the beholder: the life of Muḥammad as viewed by the early Muslims: a textual analysis''. Volume 5 of ''Studies in late antiquity and early Islam''. Darwin Press. For 1995 edition se
here

References

Sources

* *

External links

Jewish

Isaiah 42: Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

Isaiah 42 English Translation with Parallel Latin VulgateIsrael, the Suffering Servant
{{Book of Isaiah Old Testament theology 42 Christian messianism