This verse begins with the same pattern in Hebrew as in verses 4 and 5: “the Lord GOD + verb + [to] me” (see the introductory comments on this section [50.4-11]). Translators should check the way they have rendered this feature in those earlier verses in order to maintain consistency if possible.

For the Lord GOD helps me: For renders the common Hebrew conjunction, which is literally “And.” Like Revised Standard Version, New International Version renders it as a logical connector, using “Because.” New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible omit any connector, while Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh use the contrastive conjunction “But.” It may be best to omit the conjunction or render it as “Now,” which leaves the first line of the verse without an explicit link with preceding passage. This line provides the basis for the two therefore clauses that follow. It is God’s help that gives his servant the inner strength needed to face the trials and suffering imposed by his mission.

Therefore I have not been confounded: This first result clause states that because of divine help the servant has not been confounded. The Hebrew verb here means “to be humiliated/put to shame” (see the comments on 41.11). Even though the servant was mistreated physically and mentally, he has survived it without feeling humiliated. The insults have not affected him adversely.

Good News Translation inverts the first two lines of this verse, preferring to place the result before the reason: “But their insults cannot hurt me because the Sovereign LORD gives me help.” Many languages will also prefer this arrangement. Since the last three lines of this verse give the results of the reason in the first line, another possibility is to place the first line at the end of the verse.

Therefore I have set my face like a flint is the second result clause. The servant describes his resistance to the mistreatment he has received by using the simile of his face being set like a flint. Flint is a very hard stone (called “flinty rock” in Job 28.9). In early times people used it to make primitive tools such as knives and arrowheads. To set one’s face like a flint is an idiom that means one is fully determined to face any situation that confronts one (compare Ezek 3.8-9). By using this idiom, the servant tells of his resistance to every attempt to humiliate him. In many languages translators can express the sense of this idiom well by using “stone” or “rock” instead of flint, noting that the focus on hardness is to indicate determination; for example Bible en français courant has “I make my face hard like stone.” Good News Translation removes the simile, saying “I brace myself to endure them.” Contemporary English Version also uses a nonfigurative expression: “So I refuse to give up.” Translators can use an idiom that speaks of determination to confront every adversity, or else they can use a more straightforward description as Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version do.

And I know that I shall not be put to shame: The servant looks to the future and expresses confidence that he will never be overcome by the insults and abuse from others. In this ancient culture, as in many cultures today, “loss of face” was a serious matter. It usually called for some answering action that would restore a person’s honor. However, the servant submits to public humiliation and indicates that it had no effect on him in the past, nor will it cause him to feel shame in the future. The reason for this is that he has God’s help in fulfilling God’s calling. For put to shame, see the comments on 41.11.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• My Master Yahweh helps me;
for that reason I have not been humiliated.
For the same reason I have determined to be as hard as flint,
and I know that I will never be shamed.

• Because my Lord Yahweh gives me help,
I have not been humiliated.
I have set my face as hard as a rock,
and I am confident that I will never be shamed.

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 .