There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne: The pronoun her refers to the city of Jerusalem. The city is spoken of as a mother (see also 50.1) who has had many children. All the sons she has borne refers to the whole population of the city, not just the male citizens. However, among them all there is none to guide her, which means there is no responsible person to lead her because they are all drunk from drinking the cup of the LORD’s anger.

There is none to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up is parallel and synonymous with the first two lines. There is a Ugaritic legend about a king who had no sons to take him by the hand when he was drunk. It is possible that the prophet is thinking of some such well-known story to paint a picture of a helpless Jerusalem that has no one to lead her by the hand and bring her home. The Hebrew verb rendered has brought up refers to raising or parenting a child from a young age through to maturity.

Good News Translation combines among all the sons she has borne and among all the sons she has brought up into “no one among your people.” Bible en français courant reverses the sequence of the lines in each pair, saying “Among all the sons that you gave birth to, none has guided you. Among all the children that you have raised, none has supported you.” However, the Hebrew order of the lines, which Revised Standard Version follows, is designed to emphasize the fact that there is nobody able to help. Together, these lines give a picture of the totally helpless and sorry situation of those in exile. So reversing the lines as in Bible en français courant should not be done, except for good reasons of style and naturalness.

Throughout verses 12-23 God’s people are addressed directly with the use of second person pronouns, either singular or plural. The only exception is this verse, which speaks of Jerusalem in the third person. It is as if the LORD, while addressing his people, turns aside for a moment and makes a comment to bystanders. However, as noted before, pronoun variation is a common feature of Hebrew poetry, so Good News Translation is quite justified in continuing to address Jerusalem directly by using second person pronouns. Whether these pronouns should be singular or plural will depend on what translators used in the previous verse.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• There is not one person to guide her
from among all the children she has borne;
there is not one person to take her by the hand
from among all the children she has reared.

• Among all the children she has borne,
there is not one who can guide her;
among all the children she has raised,
there is not one to lead her by the hand.

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 .