Isaiah 42:2
He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9
Isaiah 42:2 isn’t saying that the Messiah would never speak loudly. This verse is referring to his character. The Messiah would be gentle and soft-spoken. Not hard to hear. He’s not a “low-talker.” He in fact would talk loudly at times and raise his voice at the Pharisees. But his nature is lowly at heart. His demeanor would not be aggressive but quiet and welcoming.
There are really three verbs in this verse. The original Hebrew words are:
- ṣāʽaq (shout)
- šāmaʽ (cry out)
- nāśā’ (raise)
The verb ṣāʽaq is translated to English as “shout” but implies desperation. This shout is an audible cry that demands a response. This is the same word used in Exodus when the Egyptian army came after the Israelites as they were leaving Egypt: “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out (ṣāʽaq) to the LORD” (Exodus 14:10).
As we studied the Psalms, we know that Jesus cried out to God in a similar manner of desperation while hanging on the cross. But again, this is not the context of Isaiah 42:2. Jesus did not shout his message and beg us to follow him. This is not the nature of Jesus. He invites us to follow him without coercion. Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the doorand knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Rev 3:20).
The next verb šāmaʽ is translated to English as “cry out.” The King James Version translates this verb as to “not cause his voice to be heard.” The emphasis is on the receiver of the voice – on the action of hearing. In other words, Jesus isn’t going to force you to listen to him. It also carries a subtle hint to the parables that Jesus would use to deliver his message.
The same verb is used again in the book of Exodus. Moses was trying to convince Pharaoh to let his people leave Egypt and it says, “Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen (šāma‘) to them, just as the Lord had said” (Ex 7:13). It is not the nature of Jesus to make you accept his message. Matthew wrote, “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable” (Matt 13:34). Only those that truly wanted to hear his message were able to hear it.
The last verb nāśā’ is translated to English as “raise” which literally means “to lift.” So it carries both a literal translation of picking up an object and a figurative translation of carrying someone’s emotional burden. It also is used in a spiritual connotation such as in forgiveness of sin like we see in Isaiah 53:12, “For he bore the sin of many.”
Since the direct object not being lifted up is the Messiah’s voice, Jesus is not going to force his forgiveness on you. This word underscores our personal accountability for our sin and our need to humbly come to God for His forgiveness through Christ. Jesus preached a message of repentance, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).
The nature of God is to gently nudge us closer to Him. Jesus came to show us the nature of God and he showed us a gentle spirit. The Almighty God who created the universe doesn’t force anything on us. He works quietly, leading us to Him, but only if we are looking for Him.
And he calls us to the same spirit of humility. We are to lead people to Jesus without seeking credit or calling attention to ourselves. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:8-10).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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