They are created now, not long ago: The Hebrew verb translated are created always has God as its subject (see the comments on 40.26), so its use here stresses that God is causing the new events. The passive expression They are created may be rendered “I am creating them.” In Hebrew the adverb rendered now occurs at the beginning of this verse for emphasis, matching the pivotal position of “From this time forth” in the previous verse. It contrasts with the phrase long ago. So it is clear the events God is causing really are new. Some of the emphasis in this line is lost in Good News Translation since it does not use the verb “create,” though it stresses now appropriately: “Only now am I making them happen.” Bible en français courant (1997) is better with “This is not ancient history, it’s now that I am going to create them,” and so is Revised English Bible with “They were not created long ago, but in this very hour.”

Before today you have never heard of them: The people did not hear about these new events until this moment. There is a contrast between what they had heard (verse 6) and what they had not heard until now (verse 7). Today is literally “day,” which is used idiomatically as a reference to the present moment. This line may be rendered “until this moment you had heard nothing about them.”

Lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’: This line is similar in form and function to the last two lines of verse 5 by beginning with the connector lest. Here God discounts the possibility that the people already knew about the new things he is about to do. They cannot claim that they knew about them earlier. The Hebrew word for Behold is an interjection that draws attention to the words that follow (compare 43.19; 44.11). Most translations omit it, leaving it implied by the context. New International Version expresses it with the word “Yes.” Translators may use indirect speech for the direct quote of the people, as in Good News Translation (see also the first example below).

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• I am creating them now, not in some past time;
until now you have never heard of them,
otherwise you might claim that you had known about them.

• I am bringing them into being now, not in some past moment;
thus far you have not heard anything about them,
otherwise you could say, ‘Look, I knew about them.’

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 .