Isaiah 42:6

called thee in righteousness i.e. in accordance with a stedfast and consistent purpose. See Appendix, Note II, and cf. ch. Isaiah 45:13.

and will keep thee R.V. marg. ("form thee") derives the verb from a different root; if this sense be taken, it is necessary to read the words in close connexion with what follows: "I will form and appoint thee for a covenant &c."

for a covenant of the people The expression occurs again in ch. Isaiah 49:8, and is one of the most difficult in this prophecy. The idea is necessarily a pregnant one, and it is nowhere developed in such a way that we can be sure of the exact meaning. The notion of a "national league" must be dismissed, because the Heb. běrîth, unlike the German "Bund," nowhere means "confederation." To take "people" in the sense of "humanity" is also unsuitable because of Isaiah 49:8, which clearly limits the reference to Israel. Looking at the phrase by itself two constructions are grammatically possible: (a) We may render it, "a covenant of a people," or "a covenant people," after the analogy of Genesis 16:12, where Ishmael is called "a wild ass of a man" (cf. "Wonder of a Counsellor" in ch. Isaiah 9:6). This, however, is somewhat strained. (b) The most natural, and on the whole probably the most satisfactory rendering is, "a nation's covenant," i.e. the covenant upon which a nation is constituted, the conception implied being that Israel's future national existence must be based on a new covenant between it and Jehovah (ch. Isaiah 55:3; Jeremiah 31:30-32). The difficulty is thus reduced to the pregnancy of the statement that the Servant isor shall bethis covenant. It is probably to be explained in accordance with such expressions as "thou shalt be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2). As "blessing" there means "cause of blessing," so here "covenant" may be equivalent to the groundor (as most commentators explain) the mediatorof a national covenant. The idea at all events must be something like this: the Divine ideal represented by the Servant of the Lord becomes the basis of a new national life, inasmuch as it expresses that for the sake of which Jehovah enters into a new covenant relation with His people.

for a light of the nations] The ultimate destiny of the Servant; see on Isaiah 42:1.