# Isaiah 42 General Notes

### Structure and formatting

Some translations set poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to show that it is poetry. The ULB does this with the poetry in this chapter.

Many scholars believe that there are four songs or poems which Isaiah records about the Messiah. Isaiah 42:1-4 is the first of these songs. They are often called the "servant songs" because they focus on the Messiah being a servant. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/christ]])

### Special concepts in this chapter

#### Servant
Israel is called Yahweh's servant. The Messiah is also called the servant of Yahweh. It is likely that the two different usages of the word "servant" are intended to contrast with one another. 

## Links:

* __[Isaiah 42:1 Notes](./01.md)__

__[<<](../41/intro.md) | [>>](../43/intro.md)__

