The Lord GOD has opened my ear: This verse opens in the same way as the previous one (see the introductory comments on this section [50.4-11]). This repetition adds emphasis to the servant’s claim that he has received God’s message and that he listened as a true disciple. Here there is another reference to the ear, but this time the verb is opened rather than “wakens.” The figurative expression opened my ear means God caused the servant to listen well. If this figurative expression can be understood in the receptor language, translators should keep it (so Bible en français courant [1997]). Good News Translation sees the sense of the expression not so much as “listening well” but rather as “understanding well”: “The LORD has given me understanding.” To understand well should be the implied result of listening well, so Good News Translation‘s approach, though free, is valid. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch opts for a closer rendering, saying “He has opened my ear and made me willing to listen to him.”

And I was not rebellious notes that the servant did not resist the divine word spoken to him.

I turned not backward is parallel to the previous line. The Hebrew verb rendered turned carries the sense of turning aside. It implies consciously rejecting something or someone. I turned not backward means the servant did not reject anything that the LORD told him, but accepted it willingly.

The last two lines of this verse need to be translated together in order to ensure smoothness of style; for example, Good News Translation has “and I have not rebelled or turned away from him,” and Bible en français courant says “and I do not resist him, I do not back away.” In both these versions the pronoun “him” referring to God is made explicit, which is quite valid. Revised English Bible has “and I did not disobey or turn back in defiance.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh provides another possible model: “And I did not disobey, I did not run away.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• My Master Yahweh opened my ear[s],
and I did not rebel or turn aside.

• My Lord Yahweh opened my hearing;
I did not reject [his word],
I did not turn back [from it].

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 .