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Isaiah 54

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Promise of Restoration and Expansion 1–3

1
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah. ​
2
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. ​
3
For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. ​

God is Israel's Eternal Husband 4–8

4
Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth; and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more. ​
5
For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. ​
6
For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God. ​
7
For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. ​
8
In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.

The Everlasting Covenant of Peace 9–10

9
For this isasthe waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. ​
10
For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee. ​

The Glorious Rebuilding of Zion 11–14

11
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. ​
12
And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones.
13
And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children. ​
14
In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. ​

Protection and Final Vindication 15–17

15
Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee. ​
16
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. ​
17
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness which is of me, saith Jehovah. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 54

Verse 1

Sing, O barren — The 'married wife' is from baal, the root of 'husband' in v.5. The barren woman recalls Sarah (Gen 11:30), and Paul quotes the verse in Gal 4:27, after naming 'Jerusalem which is above… the mother of us all' (Gal 4:26). The promise of children follows the Servant who 'shall see his seed' (53:10).

Verse 2

Enlarge the place of thy tent — The vocabulary is the tabernacle's: the 'curtains' (yeriah) and 'habitations' (mishkan) are the words of Ex 26:1, and the 'stakes' (yathed) are the tent pins of Ex 35:18. Four commands follow one another: enlarge, stretch, lengthen and strengthen. They prepare room for the increase of vv.1 and 3.

Verse 3

inherit the Gentiles — Parats, to break out, is the verb of Gen 28:14, 'thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south', promised to Jacob's seed. Here the seed 'shall inherit the Gentiles' (goyim, nations) and people 'the desolate cities'; 'desolate' (shamem) is the word used of the woman in v.1.

Verse 4

the reproach of thy widowhood — Almanuth, widowhood, is found four times (Gen 38:14, 19; 2 Sam 20:3; here). The 'shame of thy youth' looks back to the beginning; Hos 2:15 places Israel's youth 'in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt'. 'Fear not' is yare, the verb of 'thou shalt not fear' in v.14.

Verse 5

thy Maker is thine husband — Baal, to be husband, the root of 'married wife' in v.1. The titles gather: 'the LORD of hosts', 'thy Redeemer' (goel, the kinsman who may 'redeem' what a brother lost, Lev 25:25), 'the Holy One of Israel', and 'The God of the whole earth'. Paul applies the husband image to Christ and the church (Eph 5:25–32).

Verse 6

a woman forsaken — Azab, forsaken, is the word of 62:4, where the name is reversed: 'Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken', and the land is called Beulah, married. 'Wife of youth' recalls Mal 2:14, 'the wife of thy youth'. 'Refused' is maas, to spurn. Against her state of forsaken, grieved and refused stands the LORD's word: he 'hath called' (qara) her.

Verse 7

For a small moment — Regea, a blink, an instant, with qatan, small. It returns in v.8, 'in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment', and in 26:20; Ps 30:5 says 'his anger endureth but a moment'. Against it stand 'great mercies' (rachamim, compassions) and a gathering (qabats) like Deut 30:3, 'gather thee from all the nations'.

Verse 9

the waters of Noah — The promise is likened to the flood: 'neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth' (Gen 9:11). Isaiah calls it an oath (shaba), and two things are sworn away: being 'wroth' (qatsaph, to burst out in rage) and 'rebuke' (gaar). The sign of the earlier promise was the bow 'in the cloud' (Gen 9:16).

Verse 10

the covenant of my peace — Berit shalom, the phrase of Num 25:12, 'I give unto him my covenant of peace', and Ezek 34:25. 'Kindness' is chesed, covenant love. The verb is the same for the mountains that 'shall depart' and the kindness that 'shall not depart' (mush). Matt 24:35 says the same of his words: 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.'

Verse 11

not comforted — Nacham, the verb of 40:1, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye my people'; the 'afflicted' (ani) is 'tossed with tempest' (saar) until the LORD builds. 'Fair colours' is puk, paint, the word used of Jezebel painting her face (2 Kgs 9:30); the stones are set in it. 'Sapphires' (sappir) are the second foundation of the city in Rev 21:19.

Verse 13

taught of the LORD — Limmud, taught, used elsewhere in Isaiah of the Servant's 'tongue of the learned' (50:4) and of 'my disciples' (8:16). Christ cites the verse: 'And they shall be all taught of God' (John 6:45). Jer 31:34 states the same teaching in the new covenant: 'they shall all know me.' Shalom, peace, is the result: 'great shall be the peace of thy children'.

Verse 14

In righteousness shalt thou be established — Kun, to be set firm, on the ground of tsedaqah, righteousness, the word of v.17, 'their righteousness is of me'. 'Thou shalt not fear' is the verb of v.4, now a result: far from 'oppression' (osheq) and 'terror' (mechittah, ruin), which 'shall not come near'. Prov 3:26 gives the like, 'the LORD shall be thy confidence'.

Verse 15

not by me — Gur occurs three times in the verse, in the sense of gathering for hostility. Those who gather against Zion do so without the LORD's sending, and 'shall fall for thy sake'. Isa 41:11 says the same of 'all they that were incensed against thee': they 'shall be ashamed and confounded'.

Verse 16

I have created the smith — Bara, to create, is said first of the smith and then of the waster (shachath, one who ruins). 'Instrument' is keli, the word translated 'weapon' in v.17: the weapon comes from a smith whom the LORD created, and so cannot 'prosper' against his people. Compare Isa 10:15, 'Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?'

Verse 17

No weapon that is formed — Keli, the instrument of v.16; 'formed' is yatsar, to fashion. 'Thou shalt condemn' is rasha in its causative sense: to pronounce the accuser in the wrong. 'Servants of the LORD' is the plural of ebed, the word for the Servant in 52:13 and 53:11. Paul answers with the same verdict: 'It is God that justifieth' and 'Who is he that condemneth?' (Rom 8:33–34).