And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction: This is a concessive clause since it refers to past punishments by God, while the rest of the verse speaks about unexpected future blessings. New International Version also treats it this way by beginning with the connector “Although.” The Lord is not the divine name Yahweh, but renders the title meaning “my master” (see 1.2). Revised Standard Version uses present tense for the verb give (also New International Version, Revised English Bible), while Good News Translation has the future tense. Since this clause refers to the past, the verb is better rendered “has given.”

The bread of adversity and the water of affliction are probably metaphors referring to hardships caused by Yahweh. Good News Translation follows this interpretation, but it renders the metaphors nonfiguratively by simply saying “hard times.” They may be rendered as similes (see the second example below). Some commentators believe the bread of adversity and the water of affliction refer literally to bread and water as the meager supplies given to the Israelites during their Exodus wanderings. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh expresses this by saying “meager bread and scant water.” New American Bible and Bible en français courant also refer to literal bread and water, but in a positive sense. New American Bible has “the bread you need and the water for which you thirst,” and Bible en français courant says “the necessary bread and water” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). A positive interpretation fits the context of this section well, but we prefer the negative figurative sense here.

Yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more: Who is your Teacher? Many versions identify him as the Lord by saying “the Lord, your teacher” (Contemporary English Version) or by using the pronoun “he,” referring back to the Lord (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant). Of course, through the use of a capital letter on Teacher, Revised Standard Version implies the same thing. However, the Hebrew is literally “your teachers” (New International Version; similarly King James Version), so this may refer to the prophets. According to most scholars, this is unlikely, so we prefer to say “your Teacher” with the Lord in view.

The Hebrew verb phrase rendered will not hide himself any more uses a verb that means “to be put in a corner” or “to thrust aside” (so BDB). It is an unusual term to use here, but since the next clause talks about the Teacher being seen, the idea of him not hiding himself is a logical one.

But your eyes shall see your Teacher: The people will be able to see their Teacher after he reveals himself. According to the next verse, they also will be able to hear him. Your eyes is a figurative expression that uses a part to refer to the whole (called a synecdoche). Here a part of the body is used to refer to the whole person, so Good News Translation says simply “you,” which may be helpful in other languages.

The references to the Lord being hidden at first, and then being seen, should not be taken literally, but figuratively. When the people endure punishment, they feel that God has hidden himself from them (compare Psa 10.1; 13.1; 22.1). Later, he will become visible through his marvelous works. The third example below expresses the sense of the imagery here.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Although my Lord has given you the ‘bread’ of adversity and the ‘water’ of affliction, yet as your Teacher he will not hide himself from you any longer. Your eyes will actually see him.

• Although my Master has sent you adversity and affliction like bread and water, nevertheless he is your Teacher and he will no longer hide from you. You will see him clearly.

• Although you have suffered adversity in the past, in the future my Lord, your Teacher, will no longer seem to be hidden from you. You will see what he has done with your own eyes.

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 .