Isaiah 49:6

Context

Isaiah 49:1–13 is commonly counted as the second of the "Servant Songs" (the four passages in chapters 42, 49, 50, and 52–53). In this passage the servant speaks in the first person, addressing the "isles" and the peoples far off. The servant declares that God called him from the womb. In verse 3 God calls the servant "Israel," and in verse 4 the servant laments that he seems to have labored in vain.

Verse 6 is God's answer to this lament. To raise up the scattered tribes of Jacob and bring back the remnant would be merely "a light thing." God says that he will make the servant "a light to the Gentiles," so that his salvation may reach "unto the end of the earth." Here "the Gentiles" refers to the nations outside Israel.

There is broad agreement that chapters 40–55 are set against the background of the promised return at the close of the Babylonian exile. Scholars and denominations differ, however, on whether this section was written by the prophet Isaiah himself or by a later prophet (the so-called "Second Isaiah" or "Deutero-Isaiah" hypothesis).

Interpretation

• Jewish tradition: Readings that, following verse 3, identify the servant with the community of Israel—or with the faithful remnant within it, or with the prophet himself—are reported to predominate.
• Traditional Christian reading: The servant is identified with Jesus Christ. The mission of restoring Israel and bringing salvation to the Gentiles is read as fulfilled in Christ. Many interpreters hold that Simeon's description of the infant Jesus in Luke 2:32 as "a light to lighten the Gentiles" echoes this verse and Isaiah 42:6.
• Application in Acts: In Acts 13:47, Paul and Barnabas quote this verse after the Jews of Pisidian Antioch reject the gospel. Introducing it with "For so hath the Lord commanded us," they cite it as the basis for preaching to the Gentiles. On this basis, it is widely held that the servant's mission continues in the church's mission.

Questions of Application

This verse is not the subject of marked controversy between denominations. Discussion centers mainly on two issues.

The first is the identity of the servant. The servant called "Israel" in verse 3 is given the role of restoring Israel in verses 5–6. How this tension is resolved is where interpretations diverge.

The second is translation. The final clause of the Hebrew text can be read either as "that my salvation may reach unto the end of the earth" or as "that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Acts 13:47 follows the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament; the KJV renders it "that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth," and the New Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) renders it "that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth."

In the Korean Church

The expressions "a light to the Gentiles" and "unto the end of the earth" are frequently used, together with Acts 1:8, in mission sermons and in services commissioning missionaries.

Related Passages

• Isaiah 42:6
• Luke 2:32
• Acts 13:47
• Acts 1:8
• Galatians 1:15–16