Isa 49:7 | NET2full | STEP | This is what the Lord , the Protector of Israel , their Holy One , says to the one who is despised and rejected by nations , a servant of rulers : “ Kings will see and rise in respect, princes will bow down , because of the faithful Lord , the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”

Isaiah 49:7

7 This is what the Lord,
the Protector ^{▼▼tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.} of Israel, their Holy One, ^{▼▼sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.} says
to the one who is despised ^{▼▼tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa לבזוי, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, לִבְזוּי (livzuy, “to the one despised with respect to life” [נֶפֶשׁ is a genitive of specification]). The consonantal sequence וי was probably misread as ה in the MT tradition. The contextual argument favors the 1QIsaa reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”} and rejected ^{▼▼tn MT’s Piel participle (“to the one who rejects”) does not fit contextually. The form should be revocalized as a Pual, “to the one rejected.”} by nations, ^{▼▼tn Parallelism (see “rulers,” “kings,” “princes”) suggests that the singular גּוֹי (goy) be emended to a plural or understood in a collective sense (see 55:5).}
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise in respect, ^{▼▼tn For this sense of קוּם (qum), see Gen 19:1; 23:7; 33:10; Lev 19:32; 1 Sam 20:41; 25:41; 1 Kgs 2:19; Job 29:8.}
princes will bow down,
because of the faithful Lord,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”