The second person pronouns in this verse are singular (you and your), but in the rest of the section they are plural. Here the Israelite exiles are addressed as a nation. Translators may change these pronouns to plural forms for consistency or identify Israel as the addressee (so Bible en français courant).

Again the word Behold calls attention to what follows. Most versions render it this time since it helps to change the focus from David in the previous verse to Israel here. Renderings that reflect this change in focus are “Now you…” (Good News Translation), “and you in turn…” (Revised English Bible), and “Well, you too, Israel…” (Bible en français courant). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh expresses an explicit link between verses 4 and 5 by saying “4 As I made him a leader … 5 So you….” Like Revised Standard Version, other versions begin verse 5 with an attention-getting expression that marks it off from the previous verse; for example, “See” (New Revised Standard Version), “Look” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “Surely” (New International Version). We recommend a translation of Behold that expresses a link with the preceding verse, as in Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Bible en français courant.

You shall call nations that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall run to you: The Israelites will summon unknown foreigners to come to them, and they will come quickly. Like Good News Translation, most versions render call as “summon.” The Hebrew noun for nations refers to foreigners here, that is, those who are not Israelites (see the comments on 2.2). This noun is singular in Hebrew, but most versions use the plural “nations,” since it has a collective sense here and the verbs rendered knew and run are plural in Hebrew. Bible en français courant renders nations as “foreigners.” Another possible rendering is “foreign/other nations.” These foreign nations are described first as nations that you know not and then as nations that knew you not. They are perhaps so far away that they and the Israelites are not aware of each other’s existence; they have not heard of each other before. Nations … shall run to you means they will come quickly to Israel after they are summoned. There is hyperbole here since unknown foreigners can hardly be expected to respond in this way. This hyperbole emphasizes the universal response to what Yahweh will do.

Because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you: This is the reason why the foreign nations will respond quickly to the summons. They have learned about the great things that Yahweh has done for his people, and they want to witness these things for themselves. For the Holy One of Israel, see the comments on 1.4. The Hebrew particle ki rendered for introduces the specific reason why the foreigners rush to the Israelites. It is because God has honored the Israelites. The use of the connector for with preposition because of is an awkward construction in English. They may be combined for naturalness (see the examples below). In this context the Hebrew verb rendered has glorified means that God has honored the Israelites by doing great things for them, especially by bringing them back home from exile. New International Version renders he has glorified you as “he has endowed you with splendor,” since the Hebrew verb here can refer to making someone or something beautiful. Good News Translation says “I will give you honor and glory.” The return of the Israelites from exile is a future event, but the Hebrew verb translated has glorified is in the perfect form to indicate that Israel’s future honor is so certain that it can already be considered given.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Now you will summon previously unknown nations,
and nations who have not known you before will come running,
because Yahweh your God,
Israel’s Holy One, has honored you.”

• You too will invite nations you do not know,
and nations who do not know you will come.
They will run to you because of Yahweh your God,
the Holy One of Israel, who has honored you.”

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 .