There are two ways of viewing verse 4: either as relating back to verse 3, justifying God’s sudden action, or as relating to verse 5, giving a reason for what is stated there. Most versions consulted follow the second option. They treat verse 3 as an independent statement. They then link verse 4 to verse 5, with verse 4 providing the basis for the statement in verse 5. A clear example of this is Good News Translation, which introduces verse 5 with “And so.” Other examples are New International Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, each beginning verse 5 with “Therefore.”

However, the overall structure of the subsection, noted in the introductory comments above [48.3-8], argues in favor of the first option. Verses 3 and 5a are parallel statements about God’s announced plans, while verses 4 and 5b each offer a reason for God’s announcement of coming events. So we prefer linking verse 4 as an explanation to verse 3, and verse 5b likewise to 5a. However, the impact on translation when choosing one approach over the other is minimal. The main difference would be in punctuation, since we recommend closing verse 3 with a comma, and verse 4 with a period.

Because I know that you are obstinate …: God accuses the people of Israel of being stubborn. Because I know is literally “from my knowing.” This expression introduces their stubbornness as the reason for what he says in verse 3, namely that he fulfilled his announced plans to act (see the comments above). The Hebrew verb for “knowing” may be rendered in the present tense (so Revised Standard Version) or the past (so Good News Translation). God accuses his people of being obstinate throughout their history. The favorite idiom for their stubbornness in the Old Testament is “stiff-necked” (for example, Exo 32.9; 33.3, 5; 34.9). The Hebrew word for “stiff” in this idiom is the same one rendered obstinate, while the word for “neck” is mentioned in the next line. Obstinate may be rendered “stubborn” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version).

And your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass: The general charge against the people in the previous line is pictured here more colorfully using metaphors. Most languages will understand the use of hard metals to describe someone’s stubbornness, but some may prefer to express the metaphors as similes. Good News Translation does so with “as rigid as iron and unyielding as bronze,” and Revised English Bible with “your neck being as stiff as iron, your brow like brass.” An alternative would be to use a local expression for stubbornness; for example, Bible en français courant renders the last line as “a people with a head of wood.” A footnote could be added, giving the Hebrew metaphors. If figurative language proves to be difficult, Contemporary English Version provides a possible model for the whole verse with “I knew you were stubborn and hardheaded.” The Hebrew word rendered sinew (gid) is rare and probably has been used as a wordplay with the Hebrew verb for “declared” (nagad) in verses 3 and 5. Revised English Bible omits the noun sinew, but New International Version retains it by speaking of “the sinews of your neck,” which are the neck muscles. For the Hebrew word rendered brass, see the comments on 45.2, where it is translated “bronze.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• … because I know how stubborn you are,
your neck as hard as iron,
your forehead like brass.

• That is so because I knew you were stubborn,
your neck muscles of iron,
your forehead/head of brass/copper/bronze.

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 .