Isaiah 42:19

מִי עִוֵּר כִּי אִם־עַבְדִּי וְחֵרֵשׁ כְּמַלְאָכִי אֶשְׁלָח מִי עִוֵּר כִּמְשֻׁלָּם וְעִוֵּר כְּעֶבֶד יְהוָה׃

19 Who is blind but my servant? Or as deaf as my messenger that I send? Who is as blind as the one who is my saint? Or as blind and the servant of the LORD?

The early part of this verse will help us to understand the latter part, according to the hermeneutical rule: "The clear parts of Scripture help to interpret those that are unclear."

מִי עִוֵּר כִּי אִם־עַבְדִּי Who is blind but my servant? Here the hypothetical particle אִם with כִּי has the force of subordinating the second clause to the first with a limiting meaning like "except" or "but."

וְחֵרֵשׁ כְּמַלְאָכִי אֶשְׁלָח Or as deaf as my messenger that I send? The comparative כְּ simply repeats the grammar of the preceding clause without repeating the exact words. The word מַלְאָכִי can of course be a reference to an angel or to a prophet (in the case of Malachi, by name and by office); here any messenger, but especially Israel itself, sent (אֶשְׁלָח qal imperfect) by God but unsuited for their awesome task. כְּמַלְאָכִי is a hapax form.

מִי עִוֵּר כִּמְשֻׁלָּם Who is as blind as the one who is my saint? Here the first part of the opening clause is repeated. The word כִּמְשֻׁלָּם is a pual participle from שָׁלַם, "to be in a covenant of peace." To be in such a covenant is to be set apart for a holy purpose, and so I have translated the word with "saint," a person who is sanctified. The word מְשֻׁלָּם was not well understood in the translations: κυριεύoντες "ruler" (מְשׁלָם?) in the LXX, ἀπέσχηκως "distant(?) one" (Lucian), τέλειος "complete one" (Symmachus). The Vulgate has nisi qui venumdatus est. Vitringa translates this with volkommene, "perfected one."

Some of the typical modern translations included "perfect" (KJV), "at peace" (NASB), and "dedicated" (RSV). NIV has "committed."

וְעִוֵּר כְּעֶבֶד יְהוָה Or as blind and the servant of the LORD? The blind (עִוֵּר) servant here is still Israel herself. Israel should not have been blind; Israel should have seen again the wonders of the Lord, but Pontius Pilate shutting out the words of Christ, Israel as a nation just shrugged and wandered away from the truth.