Yesaya 35:10

35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ¹ 

They will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ² 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ³  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ⁴ 

Yesaya 62:5

62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons ⁵  will marry you.

As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

[35:10]  ¹ tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”

[35:10]  ² tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[35:10]  ³ tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”

[35:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

[62:5]  ⁵ 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).