In this verse there is clear parallelism through the repetition of who brings good tidings and who publishes, which both render Hebrew participles.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings: The identity of the messenger here is unknown; what is important is the fact that he brings a message of hope to the exiles in Babylonia from Jerusalem and Judah. The adjective beautiful renders a Hebrew verb that describes something that is fitting or appropriate. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “welcome,” which hints at the joy with which the people receive the good news. Good News Translation uses “wonderful.” Of course, as Good News Translation shows, the prophet does not mean that the messenger’s feet are physically beautiful. In this context feet is a figure of speech for the messenger as he approaches. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh keeps some of the imagery by rendering these two lines as “How welcome on the mountain Are the footsteps of the herald Announcing happiness.” Good News Translation removes the imagery by saying “How wonderful it is to see a messenger coming…” (similarly Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant). Other languages may find this model helpful. Upon the mountains refers to the messenger coming up to Jerusalem, which is located on the central mountains in Israel. Good News Translation has “across the mountains,” which is a good model to follow.

Him who brings good tidings renders the first of a series of five Hebrew participles describing the messenger. This same participle is translated “herald of good tidings” in 40.9 (see the comments there). It describes a military person who runs bearing a message from one location to another. The context determines whether the message is good or bad news. Here it is clearly good news concerning victory.

Who publishes peace is literally “who causes [people] to hear peace.” In contemporary English publishes is better rendered “announces” (New Revised Standard Version). The Hebrew word for peace (shalom) refers to well-being and prosperity, not just the absence of war (see the comments on 26.12). Here it is parallel to salvation in the next line. For this clause and the previous one Good News Translation has “bringing good news, the news of peace,” and New International Version says “those who bring good news, who proclaim peace.”

Who brings good tidings of good: Who brings good tidings renders the third Hebrew participle. It is the same participle as the first one, referring to a person who brings favorable news. The Hebrew noun for good is added here. This noun usually refers to valuable material things. Here it points to good things that will happen to the people. Good tidings of good is redundant in English, so New International Version says simply “good tidings.” New Revised Standard Version has “good news,” and Bible en français courant says “happiness.”

Who publishes salvation is literally “who causes [people] to hear salvation.” This fourth description of the messenger is parallel to the second one, so salvation is linked with peace. As noted before, salvation refers to the people’s rescue from exile in chapters 40–55 (see the comments on 45.8). Good News Translation prefers the term “victory” sometimes, which is true here. Another possibility is “rescue.”

Some languages may need to rearrange or combine the first four descriptions of the messenger since the expressions who brings good tidings and who publishes are repeated (see, for example, Good News Translation). The translation should sound natural as well as poetic, though some of the repetition of the Hebrew text may be lost.

Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns”: Who says renders the final Hebrew participle. The messenger speaks to the people of Zion who are in exile in Babylonia. His message is simply Your God reigns. The book of Psalms helps us to understand this announcement. The so-called “Enthronement Psalms” (Psa 93, 97, 99) all begin with the words “The LORD reigns.” These psalms celebrate that Yahweh is Israel’s real King, though in the enthronement liturgy the focus is on the king in Jerusalem, who is Yahweh’s representative. The good news for the exiles is that if Yahweh is their King, then they can be sure of rescue, since he is more powerful than any earthly king. Quoting this liturgical expression assures them that they will return to Jerusalem. The pronoun Your is feminine singular in Hebrew since it refers to Zion. Some languages may prefer a plural pronoun if they render Zion as “the people of Zion.” Reigns may be translated “is king” or “is ruling [over his people].” For the messenger’s announcement Good News Translation and Bible en français courant have “Your God is king!”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• How welcome are the feet of the one
who comes across the mountains bringing good news,
who announces peace,
who brings news of good things,
who announces rescue,
who says to Zion, “Your God is king!”

• How wonderful is the one
who comes across mountains to bring good news,
who tells us of peace,
who brings news of good things,
who tells us of our rescue,
who announces to us in Zion that God is ruling!

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 .