Yesaya 61:1--62:12
Konteks61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen 1 me. 2
He has commissioned 3 me to encourage 4 the poor,
to help 5 the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners,
61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,
the day when our God will seek vengeance, 6
to console all who mourn,
61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,
by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,
oil symbolizing joy, 7 instead of mourning,
a garment symbolizing praise, 8 instead of discouragement. 9
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 10
trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. 11
61:4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins
and restore the places that were desolate; 12
they will reestablish the ruined cities,
the places that have been desolate since ancient times.
61:5 13 “Foreigners will take care of 14 your sheep;
foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.
61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,
servants of our God.’ 15
You will enjoy 16 the wealth of nations
and boast about 17 the riches you receive from them. 18
61:7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion; 19
instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive. 20
Yes, 21 they will possess a double portion in their land
and experience lasting joy.
61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice
and hate robbery and sin.
I will repay them because of my faithfulness; 22
I will make a permanent covenant with them.
61:9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize that
the Lord has blessed them.” 23
61:10 I 24 will greatly rejoice 25 in the Lord;
I will be overjoyed because of my God. 26
For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;
he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. 27
I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;
I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. 28
61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops
and a garden yields its produce,
so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance 29 to grow,
and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. 30
62:1 “For the sake of Zion I will not be silent;
for the sake of Jerusalem 31 I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines brightly 32
and her deliverance burns like a torch.”
62:2 Nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your splendor.
You will be called by a new name
that the Lord himself will give you. 33
62:3 You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal turban in the hand of your God.
62:4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”
and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”
Indeed, 34 you will be called “My Delight is in Her,” 35
and your land “Married.” 36
For the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married to him. 37
62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons 38 will marry you.
As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
62:6 I 39 post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they should keep praying all day and all night. 40
You who pray to 41 the Lord, don’t be silent!
62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, 42
until he makes Jerusalem the pride 43 of the earth.
62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,
by his strong arm: 44
“I will never again give your grain
to your enemies as food,
and foreigners will not drink your wine,
which you worked hard to produce.
62:9 But those who harvest the grain 45 will eat it,
and will praise the Lord.
Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine 46
in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”
62:10 Come through! Come through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people!
Build it! Build the roadway!
Remove the stones!
Lift a signal flag for the nations!
62:11 Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: 47
“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘Look, your deliverer comes!
Look, his reward is with him
and his reward goes before him!’” 48
62:12 They will be called, “The Holy People,
the Ones Protected 49 by the Lord.”
You will be called, “Sought After,
City Not Abandoned.”
[61:1] 1 tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.
[61:1] 2 sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).
[61:1] 3 tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”
[61:1] 4 tn Or “proclaim good news to.”
[61:1] 5 tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”
[61:2] 6 tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.
[61:3] 7 tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”
[61:3] 8 tn Heb “garment of praise.”
[61:3] 9 tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”
[61:3] 10 tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”
[61:3] 11 tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”
[61:4] 12 tn Heb “and the formerly desolate places they will raise up.”
[61:5] 13 sn The Lord speaks in vv. 7-8 (and possibly v. 9). It is not clear where the servant’s speech (see vv. 1-3a) ends and the Lord’s begins. Perhaps the direct address to the people signals the beginning of the Lord’s speech.
[61:5] 14 tn Heb “will stand [in position] and shepherd.”
[61:6] 15 tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”
[61:6] 16 tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”
[61:6] 17 tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).
[61:6] 18 tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).
[61:7] 19 tn Heb “instead of your shame, a double portion.”
[61:7] 20 tn Heb “and [instead of] humiliation they will rejoice [over] their portion.” The term תָחָת (takhat, “instead of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[61:7] 21 tn Heb “therefore” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “and so.”
[61:8] 22 tn Heb “in faithfulness”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “faithfully.”
[61:9] 23 tn Heb “all who see them will recognize them, that they [are] descendants [whom] the Lord has blessed.”
[61:10] 24 sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.
[61:10] 25 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.
[61:10] 26 tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”
[61:10] 27 tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”
[61:10] 28 tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.
[61:11] 29 tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).
[61:11] 30 tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”
[62:1] 31 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[62:1] 32 tn Heb “goes forth like brightness.”
[62:2] 33 tn Heb “which the mouth of the Lord will designate.”
[62:4] 34 tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”
[62:4] 35 tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi-vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).
[62:4] 36 tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bÿ’ulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).
[62:4] 37 tn That is, the land will be restored to the Lord’s favor and once again enjoy his blessing and protection. To indicate the land’s relationship to the Lord, the words “to him” have been supplied at the end of the clause.
[62:5] 38 tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (ba’al) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).
[62:6] 39 sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.
[62:6] 40 tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.
[62:6] 41 tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”
[62:7] 42 tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.
[62:7] 43 tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”
[62:8] 44 tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.
[62:9] 45 tn Heb “it,” the grain mentioned in v. 8a.
[62:9] 46 tn Heb “and those who gather it will drink it.” The masculine singular pronominal suffixes attached to “gather” and “drink” refer back to the masculine noun תִּירוֹשׁ (tirosh, “wine”) in v. 8b.
[62:11] 47 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so NASB, NRSV).
[62:11] 48 sn As v. 12 indicates, the returning exiles are the Lord’s reward/prize. See also 40:10 and the note there.
