Thus says the LORD is the standard quote frame to begin divine speech (see the comments on 7.7). Many versions open the speech here and close it at end of verse 12 with quote marks (so Good News Translation).

In a time of favor I have answered you: God notes that he has responded to his servant (that is, the prophet or his people). These comforting words refer back to verse 4 where his servant complains that he failed in his mission but expects that God will reward his well-intentioned efforts. The Hebrew verb rendered answered does not merely indicate a verbal response to a spoken question but also carries the sense of responding to a person’s need. So God gives hope and comfort to his servant who was despondent. This happened In a time of favor, that is to say, at a favorable time. It is unclear whether the time is favorable for God or his servant. New International Version says “In the time of my favor” (similarly Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), which suggests that God responds at a time when it pleases him to be favorable to his servant (see also 60.10; 61.2). The next line supports this understanding by referring to the salvation of God’s servant (see the comments below). Good News Translation follows this interpretation but it combines the first two lines of the LORD’s speech, saying “When the time comes to save you, I will show you favor and answer your cries for help.” Bible en français courant retains the ambiguity of In a time of favor by rendering it “At a favorable moment.” When God acts, it is the time he considers appropriate as well as the time that has the greatest benefit for those whom he helps. For the pronoun you, see the introductory comments on this subsection [49.8-13].

In a day of salvation I have helped you is parallel to the previous line. The noun day refers to a moment of time rather than a certain day of the month (see the comments on 10.3). It is the time of God’s salvation or rescue of his servant. The parallel verbs answered and helped are in the perfect form in Hebrew. The perfect verb form in Hebrew usually refers to a completed action. In prophecy it can be used for a future event that will definitely happen. It may have that sense here. Translations differ in their rendering of the tense of these verbs. RSV/NRSV, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and Bible en français courant use a past tense; Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and New International Version opt for future tense; New American Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh have present tense. We prefer future tense since it appears that these words are God’s promise. However, the next two verbs, kept and given, should be rendered as past tense and not future (contrary to Good News Translation, New International Version), since they are actions that God has already completed.

I have kept you assures the servant that Yahweh is guarding him. This clause pictures God as a watchman on guard at a city wall. He responds to his people’s earlier complaint in 40.27 (restated in 49.14) that he had turned a blind eye to their suffering, that he was not concerned about them. Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Bible en français courant read the Hebrew verb for kept as yatsar (meaning “to form”; see 43.1) rather than natsar (meaning “to guard” or “to keep).” The Hebrew can be read either way. Translators may follow either reading, but most versions have the sense of “guard.”

And given you as a covenant to the people: Not only was God watching over his servant, but he also gave him special assignments. Three of these tasks are given in this verse; a fourth one probably begins verse 9. They all depend grammatically on the initial verb phrase given you. Given is a literal translation of the Hebrew verb here, but it has the sense of “appoint/designate.” In some languages “name” or even “send” would be the appropriate rendering. Each task is identified in the Hebrew text by a term with the prefixed preposition le (“[in order] to”). In Hebrew the first task is indicated by a noun (rendered covenant), and the other tasks by infinitives (rendered establish, apportion, and “saying”). Translators may repeat the verb “appoint” with each task if it would lend overall clarity to the passage; for example: “I have appointed you to make a covenant … I have appointed you to establish … I have appointed you to apportion … 9 I have appointed you to say….” The four tasks are not interdependent. So the meaning is not “I have given you as a covenant … so that you establish … in order to apportion … 9 in order to say….” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh implies that the LORD himself will carry out these tasks rather than his servant. However, most versions correctly see these actions as tasks assigned to the servant, with the exception perhaps of “saying” in verse 9 (see the comments below).

As a covenant to the people is the first task of God’s servant. This phrase occurred first in 42.6, where it is also applied to God’s servant (see the comments there). God has appointed the servant to be the mediator for a covenant between God and the people, who are presumably the nations as in 42.6. Good News Translation has a useful translation model for and given you as a covenant to the people: “and through you make a covenant with all peoples.” If “through you” is a difficult concept in the receptor language, translators may say “I have used you to make my covenant with all peoples.”

To establish the land is the second task of the servant. The sense of this line is unclear, but it probably means that when the people return to Judah, they will be able to reoccupy the land and live as they did before. New Jerusalem Bible says “to restore the land” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). If the receptor language has one verb with the sense of “restore/reconstruct/rebuild,” it can be used here.

To apportion the desolate heritages is the third task of the servant. The Hebrew verb for apportion carries the sense of dividing something into agreed portions. The Hebrew noun rendered heritages occurred earlier in 19.25 and 47.6, where it referred to Israel as God’s own possession. Here it refers to the land of Judah that God gave to his people. Desolate means the land was abandoned and devastated. The Babylonians had destroyed its cities and towns. The returning exiles will divide up the land that had been left abandoned since the time of their exile. For this whole line New International Version has “and to reassign its desolate inheritances,” and Bible en français courant says “and redistribute the parts of the holy land that today are laid waste.” Good News Translation combines the last two lines of this verse, saying “I will let you settle once again in your land that is now laid waste.” “Your land” expresses clearly the meaning of the term heritages. Contemporary English Version provides another possible model for the last two lines: “You will rebuild the country from its ruins, then people will come and settle there.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Thus says Yahweh:
“When the time is favorable, I will respond to you;
when the time comes, I will rescue you.
I have watched over you,
and appointed you to make my covenant with the people
and to restore the land,
as well as to divide up the devastated country….

• This is what the LORD says:
“I will respond to you at the right time,
I will help you when the time comes to rescue you.
I have guarded you,
appointing you as a covenant to the people
and to reestablish the land.
I also want you to portion out [or, divide up and share] the country that has been destroyed….

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 .