In 50.1 the LORD used the metaphor of “divorce” to speak about the present exile of his people. Here he compares them to a wife whom he has abandoned, but now he takes her back. The continued use of the metaphor of a husband and wife implies that Yahweh and Israel long ago were joined in “marriage.” It is a metaphor for the enduring covenant relationship between them. That union was broken when the Israelites went into exile, but now the LORD is calling them back by ending the exile.

For the LORD has called you: The Hebrew particle ki rendered For introduces another reason why the Israelites in exile can celebrate and not be ashamed. The LORD has called you implies that he is now calling his people back to himself (so Good News Translation). Revised English Bible says “The LORD has acknowledged you [as] a wife again.” God is reestablishing his former relationship with his people. He is taking the initiative to bring them back home. Some languages may prefer to change the LORD to “I, the LORD,” since he is speaking here (see also the first example below).

Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit is the first of two similes in this verse that compare the Israelites in exile to a wife who has been deserted by her husband. According to this simile, a wife who is abandoned (forsaken) is deeply hurt emotionally (grieved in spirit). In the Hebrew text there is assonance here to emphasize the abandoned wife’s situation: keʾisshah ʿazubah waʿatsubath ruach (literally “like a woman forsaken and hurt in spirit”). Revised English Bible translates “once deserted and heart-broken,” and Bible en français courant (1997) has “Like an abandoned wife, you were plunged into distress.”

Like a wife of youth when she is cast off is parallel to the previous simile. This simile can be understood in two ways. It could refer to an abandoned wife who is still quite young, or it could point to a wife who was young when she was abandoned. Revised English Bible expresses the first sense with “your God regards you as a wife still young, though you were once cast off.” Good News Translation expresses the second sense, but it combines the two similes with “Israel, you are like a young wife, deserted by her husband and deeply distressed.” New Revised Standard Version also expresses the second sense, but refers to the youth of the husband, saying “like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off” (similarly Bible en français courant).

Says your God: This quote frame closes the verse, reminding the reader that the prophet is quoting God.

Good News Translation rearranges the contents of this verse. It places the first line after the two similes, and concludes with a quote frame that introduces the LORD’s speech in verses 7-10 (similarly Contemporary English Version).

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Although you are like a wife who has been forsaken, grieving deeply,
and like a young bride now cast off,
I, Yahweh, will call you back,”
says your God.

• For, like a wife forsaken and deeply hurt,
like a young wife who was cast aside,
the LORD will call you back to him,”
says your God.

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 .