Thus says the LORD repeats the opening clause of the Cyrus Song (see the comments on 44.24). Yahweh’s actual words do not begin until verse 2, so Good News Translation places this quote frame at the end of this verse, which other languages may find helpful.
To his anointed, to Cyrus: Yahweh is addressing Cyrus, the Persian emperor (see the comments on 44.28). His anointed and Cyrus are a hendiadys since they refer to the same person. His anointed means God has appointed Cyrus to his position of power. He gave him his authority. Israelite kings and priests were anointed with oil on their heads in a liturgical ceremony to appoint them for their positions. Cyrus was not literally anointed by God, but God did appoint him for his task. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes the sense of his anointed clear by saying “whom he has anointed and appointed as king.”
Whose right hand I have grasped alludes to a customary gesture by which power is transferred from one person to another for the purpose of carrying out a special task. Here it is figurative language that means God empowers Cyrus for his task (see the comments on 41.13 and 42.6). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “I have taken you by the hand and stand by your side.” Bible en français courant renders it nonfiguratively with “I give you my support.” Another possible model is “whom I have given power.” Good News Translation combines this line with the last half of the previous one, saying “The LORD has chosen Cyrus to be king.” This rendering is too brief since it loses the idea of Yahweh empowering Cyrus.
God’s speech begins with the second line in Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch; for example, for the first two lines Contemporary English Version has “The LORD said to Cyrus, his chosen one: I have taken hold of your right hand.” These versions do this since there is a first person reference to God here. However, it is not unusual for Hebrew poetry to switch between first and third person references to the same person. Translators may change the pronoun I to “he” for naturalness; for example, Revised English Bible says “Thus says the LORD to Cyrus his anointed, whom he has taken by the right hand.”
To subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of kings: These two lines and the next two summarize why Yahweh has given Cyrus power and authority (compare 41.2). To subdue nations before him is the first reason. This line is literally “to beat down nations before him,” which means to let Cyrus conquer other nations. God gives him the power to do this. Subdue may be rendered “conquer,” “defeat,” or “overthrow.” Before him refers to the progress of Cyrus and his armies as he advances, defeating nation after nation.
And ungird the loins of kings is parallel to the previous line. This line is literally “and I will open the loins of kings,” which may mean to strip kings of their clothing so that they are naked, or to strip kings of their weapons so that they are defenseless. Here it is figurative language for soundly defeating the rulers of other nations, so it is synonymous with the previous line. Bible en français courant renders it nonfiguratively with “to take away from kings their power,” and so does Good News Translation with “he sends him to strip kings of their power.” Another model for this line and the previous one is “to conquer nations that lie in his path [or, that are before him as he advances] and subdue/humiliate/disgrace their kings/rulers.”
To open doors before him that gates may not be closed: These are synonymous parallel lines. God will also open the gates of cities and not allow them to be closed, so that Cyrus may enter the cities and conquer them. Open renders the same Hebrew verb translated “ungird” in the previous line. The Hebrew term rendered doors refers to the gates of cities here. This noun has a dual form in Hebrew, so it refers to gates with two heavy doors of the same size that are closed together and secured with a bar. For gates see the comments on 3.26. Since these two lines are synonymous, translators may combine them, as Good News Translation does with “the LORD will open the gates of cities for him.”
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one, Cyrus,
whose right arm he has empowered,
enabling him to conquer nations,
to strip the clothes from kings,
opening the doors of city gates for him
that cannot be closed:….
• Yahweh has appointed Cyrus,
he has given him power.
He will send him to conquer nations,
to defeat their kings.
He will open city gates for him
that no one can close against him.
This is what Yahweh says to him:….
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 .