In this verse Yahweh spells out in detail the meaning of the questions that underlie the challenge in the previous two verses. He asks another question, which has two parts. The first part has to do with my children, and the second with the work of my hands. This is a reversal of the topics in the previous two verses, so there is a chiasmus in verses 9-11.
Thus says the LORD, the Holy one of Israel, and his Maker: This quote frame introduces the words of Yahweh here. For the fixed formula Thus says the LORD, which is characteristic of prophetic speech, see the comments on 7.7. For the title the Holy One of Israel, see 1.4. His Maker refers to Yahweh as the one who formed the nation of Israel (see 43.1). An alternative rendering for these two lines is “The LORD is the Holy One of Israel; he is the one who created it. He says.”
Will you question me about my children…?: Yahweh refers to his people Israel as my children here. There is a textual problem with this rhetorical question. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports the Hebrew text of Masoretic Text, which is literally “The things to come, ask me about them concerning my sons.” In Masoretic Text this line and the next one are statements that the LORD will elaborate on in the following verses. Bible en français courant (1997) follows Masoretic Text, but uses rhetorical questions. For this line it says “Is it up to you to ask me questions about the future of my children…?” (similarly New International Version), which is the reading we prefer. It may be rendered as a strong statement by saying “Do not ask me about the future concerning my children” (see also the second example below). Like Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible emends the Hebrew text to read “Would you dare question me concerning my children…?” Good News Translation and New American Bible also follow this reading, but they render this rhetorical question as a strong statement.
Or command me concerning the work of my hands?: With this parallel rhetorical question Yahweh says nobody has the right to tell him what to do. In this context the work of my hands refers specifically to the Israelites whom he created as his own people (compare 29.23). My hands is a figure of speech in which a part refers to the whole (called a synecdoche). It refers to God himself, so it may be rendered simply “I” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant), but this rendering loses the poetic impact. As with the previous rhetorical question, Good News Translation uses a strong statement here also, saying “or to tell me what I ought to do!” (see also the second example below). Bible en français courant keeps the question form with “or order me concerning what I have to do?”
If translators follow Masoretic Text for the whole verse, a possible rendering is “Ask me about what is going to happen, but concerning my children, the work of my hands, leave that to me!” (similarly Hebrew Old Testament Text Project; see also the first example below). Other possible models are:
• Thus says the LORD, Israel’s Holy One and its Maker:
“Ask me about future events,
but about my children whom my hands have made
leave that to me!”
• Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:
“You should not ask me about future events concerning my children,
or give commands concerning what I do!”
• Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:
“Should you ask me about future events concerning my children,
or give commands concerning the work of my hands?”
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 .