Isaiah 49:3

The word Israelmay be read either as a vocative or as a continuation of the predicate: "(Thou art) Israel &c." (see R.V.). On either view it presents insuperable difficulties to those who hold that the Servant is an individual. To say that as the supreme personage of Israel's history he receives the name "Israel" is an arbitrary explanation, which is not to be justified by the observation that the name originally belonged to an individual. Since, however, the most important idea of the verse is contained in the words my servant, to which the clause in whom I will be glorified(better: glorify myself) naturally attaches itself, it is possible that Israelmay be a gloss, and for that reason no great stress can be laid on the word as an argument for the national interpretation of the passage.