1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:
9 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.
10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
1 For Zion's H6726 sake will I not hold my peace, H2814 and for Jerusalem's H3389 sake I will not rest, H8252 until the righteousness H6664 thereof go forth H3318 as brightness, H5051 and the salvation H3444 thereof as a lamp H3940 that burneth. H1197
2 And the Gentiles H1471 shall see H7200 thy righteousness, H6664 and all kings H4428 thy glory: H3519 and thou shalt be called H7121 by a new H2319 name, H5344 which the mouth H6310 of the LORD H3068 shall name. H8034
3 Thou shalt also be a crown H5850 of glory H8597 in the hand H3027 of the LORD, H3068 and a royal H4410 diadem H6797 H6797 in the hand H3709 of thy God. H430
4 Thou shalt no more be termed H559 Forsaken; H5800 neither shall thy land H776 any more be termed H559 Desolate: H8077 but thou shalt be called H7121 Hephzibah, H2657 and thy land H776 Beulah: H1166 for the LORD H3068 delighteth H2654 in thee, and thy land H776 shall be married. H1166
5 For as a young man H970 marrieth H1166 a virgin, H1330 so shall thy sons H1121 marry H1166 thee: and as the bridegroom H2860 rejoiceth H4885 over the bride, H3618 so shall thy God H430 rejoice H7797 over thee.
6 I have set H6485 watchmen H8104 upon thy walls, H2346 O Jerusalem, H3389 which shall never H8548 hold their peace H2814 day H3117 nor night: H3915 ye that make mention H2142 of the LORD, H3068 keep not silence, H1824
7 And give H5414 him no rest, H1824 till he establish, H3559 and till he make H7760 Jerusalem H3389 a praise H8416 in the earth. H776
8 The LORD H3068 hath sworn H7650 by his right hand, H3225 and by the arm H2220 of his strength, H5797 Surely I will H518 no more give H5414 thy corn H1715 to be meat H3978 for thine enemies; H341 and the sons H1121 of the stranger H5236 shall not drink H8354 thy wine, H8492 for the which thou hast laboured: H3021
9 But they that have gathered H622 it shall eat H398 it, and praise H1984 the LORD; H3068 and they that have brought it together H6908 shall drink H8354 it in the courts H2691 of my holiness. H6944
10 Go through, H5674 go through H5674 the gates; H8179 prepare H6437 ye the way H1870 of the people; H5971 cast up, H5549 cast up H5549 the highway; H4546 gather out H5619 the stones; H68 lift up H7311 a standard H5251 for the people. H5971
11 Behold, the LORD H3068 hath proclaimed H8085 unto the end H7097 of the world, H776 Say H559 ye to the daughter H1323 of Zion, H6726 Behold, thy salvation H3468 cometh; H935 behold, his reward H7939 is with him, and his work H6468 before H6440 him.
12 And they shall call H7121 them, The holy H6944 people, H5971 The redeemed H1350 of the LORD: H3068 and thou shalt be called, H7121 Sought out, H1875 A city H5892 not forsaken. H5800
1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth.
2 And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name.
3 Thou shalt also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah; for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are Jehovah's remembrancers, take ye no rest,
7 and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 Jehovah hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy grain to be food for thine enemies; and foreigners shall not drink thy new wine, for which thou hast labored:
9 but they that have garnered it shall eat it, and praise Jehovah; and they that have gathered it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.
10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples.
11 Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
12 And they shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of Jehovah: and thou shalt be called Sought out, A city not forsaken.
1 For Zion's sake I am not silent, And for Jerusalem's sake I do not rest, Till her righteousness go out as brightness, And her salvation, as a torch that burneth.
2 And nations have seen thy righteousness, And all kings thine honour, And He is giving to thee a new name, That the mouth of Jehovah doth define.
3 And thou hast been a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah, And a diadem of royalty in the hand of thy God,
4 It is not said of thee any more, `Forsaken!' And of thy land it is not said any more, `Desolate,' For to thee is cried, `My delight `is' in her,' And to thy land, `Married,' For Jehovah hath delighted in thee, And thy land is married.
5 For a young man doth marry a virgin, Thy Builders do marry thee, With the joy of a bridegroom over a bride, Rejoice over thee doth thy God.
6 `On thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen, All the day, and all the night, Continually, they are not silent.' O ye remembrancers of Jehovah, Keep not silence for yourselves,
7 And give not silence to Him, Till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem A praise in the earth.
8 Sworn hath Jehovah by His right hand, Even by the arm of His strength: `I give not thy corn any more `as' food for thine enemies, Nor do sons of a stranger drink thy new wine, For which thou hast laboured.
9 For, those gathering it do eat it, and have praised Jehovah, And those collecting it do drink it in My holy courts.'
10 Pass ye on, pass on through the gates, Prepare ye the way of the people, Raise up, raise up the highway, clear it from stones, Lift up an ensign over the peoples.
11 Lo, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth: `Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Lo, thy salvation hath come,' Lo, his hire `is' with him, and his wage before him.
12 And they have cried to them, `People of the Holy One, Redeemed of Jehovah,' Yea, to thee is called, `Sought out one, a city not forsaken!'
1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be still, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a torch that burneth.
2 And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah will name.
3 And thou shalt be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
4 Thou shalt no more be termed, Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed, Desolate: but thou shalt be called, My delight is in her, and thy land, Married; for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
5 For [as] a young man marrieth a virgin, shall thy sons marry thee; and with the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, shall thy God rejoice over thee.
6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Jerusalem; all the day and all the night they shall never hold their peace: ye that put Jehovah in remembrance, keep not silence,
7 and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 Jehovah hath sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength, I will indeed no more give thy corn [to be] food for thine enemies; and the sons of the alien shall not drink thy new wine, for which thou hast laboured;
9 for they that have garnered it shall eat it, and praise Jehovah; and they that have gathered it shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.
10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a banner for the peoples.
11 Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompence before him.
12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of Jehovah; and thou shalt be called, The sought out, The city not forsaken.
1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.
2 The nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of Yahweh shall name.
3 You shall also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Yahweh, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
6 I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: you who call on Yahweh, take no rest,
7 and give him no rest, until he establish, and until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and foreigners shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored:
9 but those who have garnered it shall eat it, and praise Yahweh; and those who have gathered it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.
10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare you the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples.
11 Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say you to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
12 They shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of Yahweh: and you shall be called Sought out, A city not forsaken.
1 Because of Zion I will not keep quiet, and because of Jerusalem I will take no rest, till her righteousness goes out like the shining of the sun, and her salvation like a burning light.
2 And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory: and you will have a new name, given by the mouth of the Lord.
3 And you will be a fair crown in the hand of the Lord, and a king's head-dress in the hand of your God.
4 You will not now be named, She who is given up; and your land will no longer be named, The waste land: but you will have the name, My pleasure is in her, and your land will be named, Married: for the Lord has pleasure in you, and your land will be married.
5 For as a young man takes a virgin for his wife, so will your maker be married to you: and as a husband has joy in his bride, so will the Lord your God be glad over you.
6 I have put watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will not keep quiet day or night: you who are the Lord's recorders, take no rest,
7 And give him no rest, till he puts Jerusalem in her place to be praised in the earth.
8 The Lord has taken an oath by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Truly, I will no longer give your grain to be food for your haters; and men of strange countries will not take the wine for which your work has been done:
9 But those who have got in the grain will have it for their food, and will give praise to the Lord; and those who have got in the grapes will take the wine of them in the open places of my holy house.
10 Go through, go through the doors; make ready the way of the people; let the highway be lifted up; let the stones be taken away; let a flag be lifted up over the peoples.
11 The Lord has sent out word to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your saviour comes; those whom he has made free are with him, and those to whom he has given salvation go before him.
12 And they will be named, The holy people, Those whose cause has been taken up by the Lord: and you will be named, Desired, A town not given up.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 62
Commentary on Isaiah 62 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Nearly all the more recent commentators regard the prophet himself as speaking here. Having given himself up to praying to Jehovah and preaching to the people, he will not rest or hold his peace till the salvation, which has begun to be realized, has been brought fully out to the light of day. It is, however, really Jehovah who commences thus: “For Zion's sake I shall not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I shall not rest, till her righteousness breaks forth like morning brightness, and her salvation like a blazing torch. And nations will see they righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and men will call thee by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah will determine. And thou wilt be an adorning coronet in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the lap of thy God.” It is evident that Jehovah is the speaker here, both from Isaiah 62:6 and also from the expression used; for c hâshâh is the word commonly employed in such utterances of Jehovah concerning Himself, to denote His leaving things in their existing state without interposing (Isaiah 65:6; Isaiah 57:11; Isaiah 64:11). Moreover, the arguments which may be adduced to prove that the author of chapters 40-66 is not the speaker in Isaiah 61:1-11, also prove that it is not he who is continuing to speak of himself in Isaiah 62:1-12 Jehovah, having now begun to speak and move on behalf of Zion, will “for Zion's sake,” i.e., just because it is Zion, His own church, neither be silent nor give Himself rest, till He has gloriously executed His work of grace. Zion is now in the shade, but the time will come when her righteousness will go forth as nōgah , the light which bursts through the night (Isaiah 60:19; Isaiah 59:9; here the morning sunlight, Proverbs 4:18; compare shachar , the morning red, Isaiah 58:8); or till her salvation is like a torch which blazes. יבער belongs to כלפּיד ( m ercha ) in the form of an attributive clause = בּער , although it might also be assumed that יבער stands by attraction for תבער (cf., Isaiah 2:11; Ewald, §317, c ). The verb בּער , which is generally applied to wrath (e.g., Isaiah 30:27), is here used in connection with salvation, which has wrath towards the enemies of Zion as its obverse side: Zion's tsedeq (righteousness) shall become like the morning sunlight, before which even the last twilight has vanished; and Zion's y e shū‛âh is like a nightly torch, which sets fire to its own material, and everything that comes near it. The force of the conjunction עד (until) does not extend beyond Isaiah 62:1. From Isaiah 62:2 onwards, the condition of things in the object indicated by עד is more fully described. The eyes of the nations will be directed to the righteousness of Zion, the impress of which is now their common property; the eyes of all kings to her glory, with which the glory of none of them, nor even of all together, can possibly compare. And because this state of Zion is a new one, which has never existed before, her old name is not sufficient to indicate her nature. She is called by a new name; and who could determine this new name? He who makes the church righteous and glorious, He, and He alone, is able to utter a name answering to her new nature, just as it was He who called Abram Abraham , and Jacob Israel . The mouth of Jehovah will determine it ( נקב , to pierce, to mark, to designate in a signal and distinguishing manner, nuncupare ; cf., Amos 6:1; Numbers 1:17). It is only in imagery that prophecy here sees what Zion will be in the future: she will be “a crown of glory,” “a diadem,” or rather a tiara ( ts e nı̄ph ; Chethib ts e nūph = m itsnepheth , the head-dress of the high priest, Exodus 28:4; Zechariah 3:5; and that of the king, Ezekiel 21:31) “of regal dignity,” in the hand of her God (for want of a synonym of “hand,” we have adopted the rendering “in the lap” the second time that it occurs). Meier renders יהוה בּיד ( בּכף ) Jovae sub praesidio , as though it did not form part of the figure. But it is a main feature in the figure, that Jehovah holds the crown in His hand. Zion is not the ancient crown which the Eternal wears upon His head, but the crown wrought out in time, which He holds in His hand, because He is seen in Zion by all creation. The whole history of salvation is the history of the taking of the kingdom, and the perfecting of the kingdom by Jehovah; in other words, the history of the working out of this crown.
Zion will be once more the beloved of God, and her home the bride of her children. “Men will no more call thee 'Forsaken one;' and thy land they will no more call 'Desert:' but men will name thee 'My delight in her,' and thy home 'Married one:' for Jehovah hath delight in thee, and thy land is married. For the young man marrieth the maiden, thy children will marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth in the bride, thy God will rejoice in thee.” The prophecy mentions new names, which will now take the place of the old ones; but these names indicate what Zion appears to be, not her true nature which is brought to the light. In the explanatory clause ל ך stands at the head, because the name of Zion is given first in distinction from the name of her land. Zion has hitherto been called ‛ ăzūbhâh , forsaken by Jehovah, who formerly loved her; but she now receives instead the name of c hephtsı̄ - bhâh (really the name of a woman, viz., the wife of Hezekiah, and mother of Manasseh, 2 Kings 21:1), for she is now the object of true affection on the part of Jehovah. With the rejoicing of a bridegroom in his bride (the accusative is used here in the same sense as in גדלה שׂמחה שׂמח ; Ges. §138, 1) will her God rejoice in her, turning to her again with a love as strong and deep as the first love of a bridal pair. And the land of Zion's abode, the fatherland of her children, was hitherto called sh e mâmâh ; it was turned into a desert by the heathen, and the connection that existed between it and the children of the land was severed; but now it shall be called b e ‛ūlâh , for it will be newly married. A young man marries a virgin, thy children will marry thee : the figure and the fact are placed side by side in the form of an emblematical proverb, the particle of comparison being omitted (see Herzog's Cyclopaedia , xiv 696, and Ges. §155, 2, h ). The church in its relation to Jehovah is a weak but beloved woman, which has Him for its Lord and Husband (Isaiah 54:5); but in relation to her home she is the totality of those who are lords or possessors ( ba‛alē , 2 Samuel 6:2) of the land, and who call the land their own as it were by right of marriage. Out of the loving relation in which the church stands to its God, there flows its relation of authority over every earthly thing of which it stands in need. In some MSS there is a break here.
Watchmen stationed upon the walls of Zion (says the third strophe) do not forsake Jehovah till He has fulfilled all His promise. “Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, have I stationed watchmen; all the day and all the night continually they are not silent. O ye who remember Jehovah, leave yourselves no rest! And give Him no rest, till He raise up, and till He set Jerusalem for a praise in the earth.” As the phrase hiphqı̄d ‛al signifies to make a person an overseer (president) over anything, it seems as though we ought to render the sentence before us, “I have set watchmen over thy walls.” But hiphqı̄d by itself may also mean “to appoint” (2 Kings 25:23), and therefore עלח־ומתי ך may indicate the place of appointment (lxx ἐπὶ τῶν τειχέων σου , upon thy walls: ̔Ιερουσαλήμ κατέστησα φύλακας ). Those who are stationed upon the walls are no doubt keepers of the walls; not, however, as persons whose exclusive duty it is to keep the walls, but as those who have committed to them the guarding of the city both within and without (Song of Solomon 5:7). The appointment of such watchmen presupposes the existence of the city, which is thus to be watched from the walls. It is therefore inadmissible to think of the walls of Jerusalem as still lying in ruins, as the majority of commentators have done, and to understand by the watchmen pious Israelites, who pray for their restoration, or (according to b. Menachoth 87 a ; cf., Zechariah 1:12) angelic intercessors. The walls intended are those of the city, which, though once destroyed, is actually imperishable (Isaiah 49:16) and has now been raised up again. And who else could the watchmen stationed upon the walls really be, but prophets who are called tsōphı̄m (e.g., Isaiah 52:8), and whose calling, according to Ezek 33, is that of watchmen? And if prophets are meant, who else can the person appointing them be but Jehovah Himself? The idea that the author of these prophecies is speaking of himself, as having appointed the shōm e rı̄m , must therefore be rejected. Jehovah gives to the restored Jerusalem faithful prophets, whom He stations upon the walls of the city, that they may see far and wide, and be heard afar off. And from those walls does their warning cry on behalf of the holy city committed to their care ascent day and night to Jehovah, and their testimony go round about to the world. For after Jerusalem has been restored and re-peopled, the further end to be attained is this, that Jehovah should build up the newly founded city within ( c ōnēn the consequence of bânâh , Numbers 21:27, and ‛ âsâh , Isaiah 45:18; Deuteronomy 32:6; cf., Isaiah 54:14 and Psalms 87:5), and help it to attain the central post of honour in relation to those without, which He has destined for it. Such prophets of the times succeeding the captivity ( n e bhı̄'ı̄m 'achărōnı̄m ; cf., Zechariah 1:4) were Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Haggai stands upon the walls of Jerusalem, and proclaims the glory of the second temple as surpassing that of the first. Zechariah points from Joshua and Zerubbabel onwards to the sprout of Jehovah, who is priest and prince in one person, and builds the true temple of God. Malachi predicts the coming of the Lord to His temple, and the rising of the Sun of righteousness. Under the eyes of these prophets the city of God rose up again, and they stand upon its pinnacles, and look thence into the glorious future that awaits it, and hasten its approach through the word of their testimony. Such prophets, who carry the good of their people day and night upon their anxious praying hearts, does Jehovah give to the Jerusalem after the captivity, which is one in the prophet's view with the Jerusalem of the last days; and in so lively a manner does the prophet here call them up before his own mind, that he exclaims to them, “Ye who remind Jehovah, to finish gloriously the gracious work which He has begun,” give yourselves to rest ( dŏmi from dâmâh = dâmam , to grow dumb, i.e., to cease speaking or working, in distinction from c hâshâh , to be silent, i.e., not to speak or work), and allow Him no rest till He puts Jerusalem in the right state, and so glorifies it, that it shall be recognised and extolled as glorious over all the earth. Prophecy here sees the final glory of the church as one that gradually unfolds itself, and that not without human instrumentality. The prophets of the last times, with their zeal in prayer, and in the exercise of their calling as witnesses, form a striking contrast to the blind, dumb, indolent, sleepy hirelings of the prophet's own time (Isaiah 56:10).
The following strophe expresses one side of the divine promise, on which the hope of that lofty and universally acknowledged glory of Jerusalem, for whose completion the watchers upon its walls so ceaselessly exert themselves, is founded. “Jehovah hath sworn by His right hand, and by His powerful arm, Surely I no more give thy corn for food to thine enemies; and foreigners will to drink thy must, for which thou hast laboured hard. No, they that gather it in shall eat it, and praise Jehovah; and they that store it, shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.” The church will no more succumb to the tyranny of a worldly power. Peace undisturbed, and unrestricted freedom, reign there. With praise to Jehovah are the fruits of the land enjoyed by those who raised and reaped them. יגעתּ (with an auxiliary pathach , as in Isaiah 47:12, Isaiah 47:15) is applied to the cultivation of the soil, and includes the service of the heathen who are incorporated in Israel (Isaiah 61:5); whilst אסּף (whence מאספיו with ס raphatum ) or אסף ( poel , whence the reading מאספיו , cf., Psalms 101:5, m e loshnı̄ ; Psalms 109:10, v e - dorshū , for which in some codd. and editions we find מאספיו , an intermediate form between piel and poel ; see at Psalms 62:4) and קבּ ץ stand in the same relation to one another as condere ( horreo ) and colligere (cf., Isaiah 11:12). The expression b e chatsrōth qodshı̄ , in the courts of my sanctuary, cannot imply that the produce of the harvest will never be consumed anywhere else than there (which is inconceivable), but only that their enjoyment of the harvest-produce will be consecrated by festal meals of worship, with an allusion to the legal regulation that two-tenths ( m a‛ăsēr shēnı̄ ) should be eaten in a holy place ( liphnē Jehovah ) by the original possessor and his family, with the addition of the Levites and the poor (Deuteronomy 14:22-27 : see Saalschütz, Mosaisches Recht , cap. 42). Such thoughts, as that all Israel will then be a priestly nation, or that all Jerusalem will be holy, are not implied in this promise. All that it affirms is, that the enjoyment of the harvest-blessing will continue henceforth undisturbed, and be accompanied with the grateful worship of the giver, and therefore, because sanctified by thanksgiving, will become an act of worship in itself. This is what Jehovah has sworn “by His right hand,” which He only lifts up with truth, and “by His powerful arm,” which carries out what it promises without the possibility of resistance. The Talmud ( b. Nazir 3 b ) understand by עזו זרוע the left arm, after Daniel 12:7; but the ו of ובזרוע is epexegetical.
The concluding strophe goes back to the standpoint of the captivity. “Go forth, go forth through the gates, clear the way of the people. Cast up, cast up the road, clear it of stones; lift up a banner above the nations! Behold, Jehovah hath caused tidings to sound to the end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. And men will call them the holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and men will call thee, Striven after, A city that will not be forsaken.” We cannot adopt the rendering proposed by Gesenius, “Go ye into the gates,” whether of Jerusalem or of the temple, since the reading would then be שׁערים בּאוּ (Genesis 23:10) or בשּׁערים (Jeremiah 7:2). For although בּ עבר may under certain circumstances be applied to entrance into a city (Judges 9:26), yet it generally denotes either passing through a land (Isaiah 8:21; Isaiah 34:10; Genesis 41:46; Leviticus 26:6, etc.), or through a nation (2 Samuel 20:14), or through a certain place (Isaiah 10:28); so that the phrase בּשּׁער עבר , which does not occur anywhere else (for in Micah 2:13, which refers, however, to the exodus of the people out of the gates of the cities of the captivity, שׁער ויּעברוּ do not belong together), must refer to passing through the gate; and the cry בשׁערים עברוּ means just the same as מבּבל צאוּ (“Go ye forth from Babylon”) in Isaiah 48:20; Isaiah 52:11.
The call to go out of Babylon forms the conclusion of the prophecy here, just as it does in Isaiah 48:20-21; Isaiah 52:11-12. It is addressed to the exiles; but who are they to whom the command is given, “Throw up a way,” - a summons repeatedly found in all the three books of these prophecies (Isaiah 40:3; Isaiah 57:14)? They cannot be the heathen, for this is contradicted by the conclusion of the charge, “Lift ye up a banner above the nations;” nor can we adopt what seems to us a useless fancy on the part of Stier, viz., that Isaiah 62:10 is addressed to the watchmen on the walls of Zion. We have no hesitation, therefore, in concluding that they are the very same persons who are to march through the gates of Babylon. The vanguard (or pioneers) of those who are coming out are here summoned to open the way by which the people are to march, to throw up the road (viz., by casting up an embankment, hamsillâh , as in Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 49:11; m aslūl , Isaiah 35:8), to clear it of stones ( siqqēl , as in Isaiah 5:2; cf., Hosea 9:12, shikkēl m ē'âdâm ), and lift up a banner above the nations (one rising so high as to be visible far and wide), that the diaspora of all places may join those who are returning home with the friendly help of the nations (Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 49:22). For Jehovah hath caused tidings to be heard to the end of the earth, i.e., as we may see from what follows, the tidings of their liberation; in other words, looking at the historical fulfilment, the proclamation of Cyrus, which he caused to be issued throughout his empire at the instigation of Jehovah (Ezra 1:1). Hitzig regards השׁמיע as expressing what had actually occurred at the time when the prophet uttered his predictions; and in reality the standpoint of the prophets was so far a variable one, that the fulfilment of what was predicted did draw nearer and nearer to it ἐν πνεύματι . But as hinnēh throughout the book of Isaiah, even when followed by a perfect, invariably points to something future, all that can be said is, that the divine announcement of the time of redemption, as having now arrived, stands out before the soul of the prophet with all the certainty of a historical fact. The conclusion which Knobel draws from the expression “to the end of the earth,” as to the Babylonian standpoint of the prophet, is a false one. In his opinion, “the end of the earth” in such passages as Psalms 72:8; Zechariah 9:10 ( 'aphsē - 'ârets ), and Isaiah 24:16 ( k e naph hâ'ârets ), signifies the western extremity of the orbis orientalis , that is to say, the region of the Mediterranean, more especially Palestine; whereas it was rather a term applied to the remotest lands which bounded the geographical horizon (compare Isaiah 42:10; Isaiah 48:20, with Psalms 2:8; Psalms 22:28, and other passages). The words that follow (“Say ye,” etc.) might be taken as a command issued on the ground of the divine hishimiă‛ (“the Lord hath proclaimed”); but hishimiă‛ itself is a word that needs to be supplemented, so that what follows is the divine proclamation: Men everywhere, i.e., as far as the earth or the dispersion of Israel extends, are to say to the daughter of Zion - that is to say, to the church which has its home in Zion, but is now in foreign lands - that “its salvation cometh,” i.e., that Jehovah, its Saviour, is coming to bestow a rich reward upon His church, which has passed through sever punishment, but has been so salutarily refined. Those to whom the words “Say ye,” etc., are addressed, are not only the prophets of Israel, but all the mourners of Zion, who become m e bhass e rı̄m , just because they respond to this appeal (compare the meaning of this “Say ye to the daughter of Zion” with Zechariah 9:9 in Matthew 21:5). The whole of the next clause, “Behold, His reward,” etc., is a repetition of the prophet's own words in Isaiah 40:10. It is a question whether the words “and they shall call thee,” etc., contain the gospel which is to be proclaimed according to the will of Jehovah to the end of the earth (see Isaiah 48:20), or whether they are a continuation of the prophecy which commences with “Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed.” The latter is the more probable, as the address here passes again into an objective promise. The realization of the gospel, which Jehovah causes to be preached, leads men to call those who are now still in exile “the holy people,” “the redeemed” (lit. ransomed, Isaiah 51:10; like p e dūyē in Isaiah 35:10). “ And thee ” - thus does the prophecy close by returning to a direct address to Zion-Jerusalem - “thee will men call d e rūshâh ,” sought assiduously, i.e., one whose welfare men, and still more Jehovah, are zealously concerned to promote (compare the opposite in Jeremiah 30:17) - “a city that will not be forsaken,” i.e., in which men gladly settle, and which will never be without inhabitants again (the antithesis to ‛ ăzūbhâh in Isaiah 60:15), possibly also in the sense that the gracious presence of God will never be withdrawn from it again (the antithesis to ‛ ăzūbhâh in Isaiah 62:4). נעזבה is the third pers. pr., like nuchâmâh in Isaiah 54:11 : the perfect as expressing the abstract present (Ges. §126, 3).
The following prophecy anticipates the question, how Israel can possibly rejoice in the recovered possession of its inheritance, if it is still to be surrounded by such malicious neighbours as the Edomites.