Your eyes will see the king in his beauty: As noted in the introductory comments on this subsection [33.17-22], “seeing” is a key term here. This line uses one Hebrew word for see, and the next line has another one, which is rendered behold. The king could refer to the king in Jerusalem, as in 32.1, or to Yahweh. Since there is an explicit link to Yahweh in verses 21-22, he is probably in view here. Good News Translation believes the king refers to an earthly king since it says “a king.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch identifies God as the king by beginning this verse with “One day you will see God as king.” Even though Yahweh is probably the king here, translators should not say this in the text since there is some ambiguity here. His beauty refers to Yahweh’s splendor (compare Psa 27.4). If this verse refers to an earthly king, then his beauty is probably his royal robes of office (see the comments on 3.24, where the Hebrew word here is also rendered “beauty”).

They will behold a land that stretches afar: Since the pronoun they refers back to Your eyes in the previous line, it may be rendered “you” (see the examples below). A land that stretches afar refers to the kingdom of Judah stretching “in all directions” (Good News Translation). This line promises that the oppressors mentioned in verse 1 will be expelled. Yahweh’s kingdom with its center in Zion will expand.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• You will see the king [or, King] in all his splendor;
you will look out on a land that extends a long way.

• Your eyes will see a king in all his glory;
you will look out over a land that stretches far and wide.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .