Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD: The double imperative Awake calls the LORD to act; it is not asking him to wake up from sleep. The Hebrew verb rendered Awake is the same one translated “stirred up” in 41.2, 25 and “aroused” in 45.13, where God says he prompted Cyrus to act as his agent (see the comments there). The repetition of Awake adds a note of urgency that is not reflected in Good News Translation or Contemporary English Version. This same verb is repeated in 52.1, where Jerusalem is addressed. Put on strength is literally “Clothe yourself with strength” (New International Version). This is a call for God to act powerfully. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “Show your power!” and Bible en français courant (1997) says “act with vigor.” The addressee here is the arm of the LORD, which refers figuratively to God’s powerful action and thus, by implication, God himself (see the comments on “my arms” at Isa 51.5). In some languages addressing the arm of the LORD may appear strange or be misunderstood, so it may be necessary to make explicit its underlying meaning in translation. Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch do this by addressing the LORD directly. For these two lines Bible en français courant has “Wake up, Lord, wake up quickly, act with vigor.” Instead of repeating Awake, Good News Translation chooses to bring out several ideas that are implicit in the text: “Wake up, LORD, and help us! Use your power and save us.” For some translators this rendering may be too free to be used as a model.

Awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago: The repetition of the verb awake again underlines the urgency in the people’s call. They support their plea by reminding God that in the past he had rescued them. Days of old and the generations of long ago are parallel expressions. Days of old is literally “the days before.” It may be rendered “the past,” “long ago,” or simply “before.” The generations of long ago is literally “eternal generations” (see verse 8, where the two Hebrew words here are rendered “for ever” and “generations”). Good News Translation combines both expressions by saying “ancient times,” which is a valid option.

Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the dragon?: God’s people remind him that he had defeated Rahab and the dragon. They do this to support their call to help them. Reminding God of his past actions is a very human way of appealing for help in the present. The Hebrew pronoun translated thou is feminine singular, so it refers back to the LORD’s arm, which renders a feminine noun in Hebrew. Since the arm refers to the LORD and his power, an alternative model for the beginning of this question is “Was it not you, LORD, who…?” For languages that do not favor the use of rhetorical questions, another possibility is “Yes, it was you who…” (see also the second example below).

In Canaanite mythology Rahab refers to the waters that threaten a return to chaos from the order established in creation. It is associated with the sea and the dragon (see the comments on 27.1). In the Hebrew version of this story Rahab and the dragon are sea monsters also. God “created the great sea monsters” (Gen 1.21), which implies he has full power over them. There is a clever use of language through association here, since Rahab is also a term used for Egypt (see 30.7), which is clearly in view in the last two lines of the next verse. Cut Rahab in pieces symbolizes God’s victory over Israel’s enemies (compare Job 26.12; Psa 89.10). The parallel expression pierce the dragon is another figure of speech for God’s victory over powerful enemies (compare Job 26.13). Pierce here means more than just to stick something sharp into the dragon; rather, it implies killing it. This verb may be rendered “stab to death.” Some translators may prefer to say simply “kill.” For the last line Revised English Bible uses the idiomatic expression “and ran the dragon through.”

We advise translators to retain the name Rahab, but to add a footnote explaining its mythical background and referring to 30.7. However, it could be misleading in many cultures to use the word dragon, especially where dragons are not evil and are not sea creatures. If so, it is better to say “sea monster” or “fearsome animal in the sea” and to add a footnote that refers to Gen 1.21. Good News Translation combines Rahab and the dragon into “the sea monster Rahab.” This is a valid model, because the text could be referring to a single sea monster, not two. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follows this understanding by rendering the last two lines of this verse as “Surely, you were the one who pierced the dragon Rahab through and cut him up.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Awake, awake, act with power,
arm of Yahweh;
awake as in the past,
as you did for ancient generations.
Were you not the one who hacked Rahab to pieces,
[the one] who stabbed the sea monster to death?

• Wake up, wake up, dress yourself with power, LORD;
wake up as you used to do
for the people of long ago.
You were the one who hacked to pieces Rahab the sea creature,
the one who stabbed the sea monster to death.

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 .