This verse introduces the final section of what we call the autobiographical portion of the book that began in 6.1 (see the introductory comments on 6.1-13).

Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples: These two imperative clauses are important in this section. Both imperatives are singular, but Isaiah does not specify the addressee. Good News Translation specifies them as “my disciples,” but it is best to use general imperatives here, without identifying the addressee. Isaiah wants others to pass on what he learned from God. Bind up describes the action of rolling up (not “folded” as in New American Bible) and tying a scroll. The testimony probably refers to Isaiah’s earlier words, which must have been recorded on a scroll (not the “tablet” of verse 1). This may have started the formation of the book we know today as the book of Isaiah. His words are called testimony because they are more than mere words; they are the prophet’s testimony to what Yahweh had shown him and told him to say.

Seal the teaching is parallel to the first imperative. Not only was a scroll rolled up and tied, it was also sealed to ensure that it was opened only by the person who had the authority to do so. The noun teaching renders the Hebrew term usually translated “law,” but Revised Standard Version gives its basic meaning here, which fits the present context better (see 1.10). Here it refers specifically to what Isaiah taught. So the testimony and the teaching may be translated “my testimony” and “my teaching” to make the sense clearer; otherwise the rendering may sound too abstract and impersonal. Although testimony and teaching are nouns in Hebrew, they may be rendered as verbs if required; for example, “what I testified to … what I taught”).

Among my disciples limits access to Isaiah’s words to a small circle of students. We can presume that Isaiah’s teachings were kept alive by his disciples in much the same way as Jesus’ teachings were in New Testament times. The Hebrew word rendered disciples comes from a root meaning “to learn.” As Isaiah taught, a group of students formed around him. Contemporary English Version provides a useful model with “my followers.” However, there are some scholars who doubt that at this early stage Isaiah had a group of followers in that formal sense. The word may have a more general meaning. However, all translations consulted use disciples or “followers.”

Some translations omit any reference to the action of rolling up, binding, and sealing a scroll. They interpret the verse in general terms, saying the disciples are to preserve Isaiah’s messages faithfully. Good News Translation is an example of this. Good News Translation also identifies God as the source of the messages. Some versions render the imperative clauses as statements; for example, Bible en français courant has “I place my message in a secure place, I lock under key the instructions that I have to pass on; I entrust them to my disciples only” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). According to this verse, Isaiah’s disciples are to preserve his teachings. However, Revised English Bible suggests that the purpose of the binding and sealing is to keep the disciples from consulting the messages. We do not recommend this unusual view.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Write [all] my words [or, my preaching] down, and seal the record of what I taught my pupils/disciples.

• What I have testified to and taught to my disciples should be bound and sealed.

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 .