When the Israelites return from exile, God promises that Egypt and Ethiopia will give them their wealth, and the Sabeans will submit to them, confessing that Yahweh alone is God.
Thus says the LORD: Once again the prophet uses this quote frame to introduce Yahweh’s words (see verse 11). Good News Translation and Bible en français courant make it explicit that he is addressing Israel here, which is helpful.
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature shall come over to you and be yours: For Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sabeans, see the comments on 43.3, where these three nations are also mentioned together. The Hebrew nouns rendered wealth and merchandise (see 23.18) in Masoretic Text refer to the things that the Egyptians and Ethiopians produce and from which they gain profit. New International Version speaks of their “products” and “merchandise.” Revised English Bible emends these two nouns to refer to people, saying “Toilers” and “merchants.” Some commentators agree with this change, which is probably influenced by the fact that the verbs that follow apply better to humans than things. However, there is no textual evidence for Revised English Bible‘s emendation, so translators should follow Masoretic Text, as recommended by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project. The Sabeans may be rendered “Seba” (Good News Translation), the name of their country. Men of stature is literally “men of measurement,” which means they are tall (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, Bible en français courant). This expression could refer to all the Sabean people (so Contemporary English Version), not just the men.
Shall come over to you and be yours is literally “to you they will pass over and to you they will belong.” In Hebrew there is emphasis on the pronoun “you” since it occurs both times before the verbs here. Actually, this pronoun occurs every time before the verbs in lines 4-7; it refers to God’s people. The subject for the two verbs here is the material wealth of Egypt and Ethiopia as well as the people of Seba. Good News Translation expresses this clearly by rendering lines 2-4 as follows: “The wealth of Egypt and Ethiopia will be yours, and the tall men of Seba will be your slaves” (similarly Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). This rendering permits a smooth transition to the next clauses, which describe the Sabeans further. Bible en français courant adopts a different approach to this verse, one allowed by the grammar of the Hebrew. For Bible en français courant the subject for the verbs in line 4 is the material wealth of the Egyptians, Ethiopians, and the Sabeans. Then the rest of the verse describes all three peoples. For lines 2-5 Bible en français courant has “the fruit of the labor of the Egyptians, the profit of the Ethiopians and of the people of Seba, tall as they are, all that will pass to you, all that will be yours! These people will follow you….” Translators may follow what Bible en français courant has done, but we prefer Good News Translation‘s approach here.
They shall follow you; they shall come over in chains means the Sabeans will follow the Israelites in chains as their slaves. Good News Translation combines these two clauses, saying “they will follow you in chains,” which may be helpful for other languages.
And bow down to you: There is a break here in Hebrew, so Contemporary English Version has a stanza break before this line. Revised Standard Version and many other versions link it closely with what precedes it. Translators may follow either approach. The Hebrew verb rendered bow down usually refers to worshiping God or idols (see, for example, 2.8 and 27.13, where it is translated “worship”). Here it means the Sabeans will bow before the Israelites to show deep respect (compare Gen 42.6). It may be rendered “show deep respect.”
They will make supplication to you, saying: In humility the Sabeans will also make the confession that follows. Make supplication is literally “pray” (New Jerusalem Bible). Bible en français courant says “tell like a prayer,” New International Version has “plead,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh uses “reverently address.” Good News Translation has “confess,” which fits this context well. Revised Standard Version adds the word saying to introduce the confession of the Sabeans. Other languages may find this helpful.
God is with you only, and there is no other, no god besides him: The Sabeans will confess that God resides only with the Israelites and that there is no other god. God is with you only is literally “Surely with you is God,” which emphasizes that God is present with Israel. New International Version and Revised English Bible express the Hebrew literally with “Surely God is with you.” However, the Hebrew particle rendered “Surely” may mean “only” (Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) in this context. New Revised Standard Version reflects this sense by rendering the whole clause as “God is with you alone” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). Translators may follow either sense here. The Hebrew word for God (ʾel) is the generic term for a divine being (see the comments on 5.16). Here it clearly refers to the unique God of Israel. Revised Standard Version reflects this by capitalizing the word God, which is helpful.
There is no other and no god besides him are synonymous expressions that emphasize the uniqueness of Israel’s God. There are no other gods besides him. For these two expressions see the comments on Isa 45.5. The Hebrew word rendered god (ʾelohim) is the usual word for Israel’s God. In this context Revised Standard Version correctly uses lowercase god to make it clear that there are no other gods besides Yahweh.
The confession of the Sabeans is a quote within the LORD’s speech. If languages prefer indirect speech here, see the second example below. For Revised Standard Version the speech of the LORD concludes with this confession, which it indicates by using both single and double quotes at the end of this verse. For Good News Translation both the speech of the LORD and the Sabeans does not conclude until the end of verse 17. Like Revised Standard Version and many other versions, we prefer to close both speeches at the end of this verse.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• Thus says Yahweh:
“Egypt’s wealth and Ethiopia’s profits, and the tall men of Seba,
all will come to you and belong to you.
The Sabeans will follow you, coming in chains.
They will bow before you and confess:
‘God is among you only;
there is no other god, he alone is God.’”
• This is what Yahweh says:
“The products of Egyptians and the profits made by Ethiopians will become yours,
and the tall people of Seba will become your slaves;
they will walk behind you, coming in chains.
They will bow to you and confess
that only among you does God dwell,
and that there is no other god besides 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 .