And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord. This gives the reason why He was confident that His work would be accepted and rewarded (Isaiah 49:4) - namely, because He is 'glorious in the eyes of Yahweh,' etc.
Though Israel be not gathered - metaphor from a scattered flock, which the shepherd gathers together again. Or, a hen and her chickens (Matthew 23:37). Instead of the text, "not" х lo' (H3808), the Qeri' has the similar Hebrew word low (H3807a)], 'to Him,' which the parallelism favours. In that case translate, 'And that Israel may be gathered to Him. So five manuscripts read. Also the Septuagint, Chaldaic, Arabic, and Syriac. But the Vulgate supports the English version reading, "not." This, as being the more difficult reading, is less likely to be due to emendation of transcribers.
Yet. Maurer takes it parenthetically, 'for I am glorious, etc., and my God is my strength.' Then (Isaiah 49:6), resuming the words from the beginning of Isaiah 49:5, 'He saith' (I repeat), 'It is a light thing,' etc. Horsley explains, 'notwithstanding the incredulity of the Jews, Messiah shall be glorified in the conversion of the Gentiles,' and ultimately also 'He will be glorified in Israel' (Isaiah 49:3), reading as the English version; but if the Qeri' be read, 'Israel shall at one time or other be gathered, notwithstanding (Isaiah 49:4) their incredulity during Messiah's sojourn on earth.' The English version, as explained by Horsley with the Ketib reading, is the best.