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Isaiah 52

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Jerusalem Called to Restoration 1–6

1
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. ​
2
Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. ​
3
For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. ​
4
For thus saith the Lord GOD, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. ​
5
Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. ​
6
Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. ​

How Beautiful Are the Feet 7–10

7
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! ​
8
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. ​
9
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10
The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. ​

Command to Depart Babylon in Purity 11–12

11
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. ​
12
For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. ​

The Exaltation of the Suffering Servant 13–15

13
Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. ​
14
As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: ​
15
So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 52

Verse 1

Awake, awake — Ur, to wake, the call of 51:9 to the arm of the LORD and of 51:17 to Jerusalem; now Zion is told to put on 'strength' (oz). 'Unclean' (tame) is the word of v.11. The promise of no more 'the uncircumcised and the unclean' is echoed in Rev 21:27.

Verse 2

Shake thyself from the dust — Naar, to shake off; the city that was to 'sit upon the ground' (Isa 3:26) is told to rise and take her seat. 'Bands' (moser) are restraints, and 'captive' (shebi) is exile. The call is to a daughter of Zion still bound.

Verse 3

sold yourselves for nought — 'Nought' is chinnam, for nothing, the word of 'for nought' in v.5. The sale was their own: 'for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves' (Isa 50:1). Gaal, 'redeemed', is the kinsman's buying back; Peter says the price was not 'silver and gold' (1 Pet 1:18).

Verse 4

went down aforetime into Egypt — The LORD points to Jacob's household, who 'came into Egypt' to sojourn (gur, Gen 46:6; Acts 7:14–15), and then to the Assyrian who 'oppressed' (ashaq) them. The Assyrian is said to oppress 'without cause'; the people are likewise 'taken away for nought' (v.5), so the present wrong has earlier parallels.

Verse 5

my name continually every day is blasphemed — 'Blasphemed' is naats, to scorn; 'howl' is yalal, a wail. The LORD asks 'what have I here' while his people are 'taken away for nought'. Paul cites the charge against Israel: 'The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you' (Rom 2:24).

Verse 6

I am he that doth speak — The people 'shall know my name' when the word spoken by the prophets is fulfilled. 'Behold, it is I' answers the question of v.5. Early Christian writers heard here the one who spoke by the prophets now present in person.

Verse 7

How beautiful upon the mountains — Mebasser, from basar, to announce glad news, appears twice here. 'Thy God reigneth' (malak) is the news. Paul quotes it of gospel preachers: 'How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace' (Rom 10:15); see also Nah 1:15 and Isa 40:9.

Verse 8

Thy watchmen — Tsaphah, to peer into the distance; the LORD sets 'watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem' (Isa 62:6). They sing together because 'eye to eye' they see the LORD 'bring again' (shub, return) Zion: the sight is shared, with no disagreement among them.

Verse 10

made bare his holy arm — Chasaph, to strip off, to make bare for exertion; the arm that the people asked to awake in 51:9. 'All the ends of the earth shall see' echoes Ps 98:3, and Luke 3:6 speaks of the same sight: 'all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'

Verse 11

touch no unclean thing — Tame, the same word as 'unclean' in v.1. The command to leave Babylon is repeated in Isa 48:20, and Paul applies it to believers: 'come out from among them… and touch not the unclean thing' (2 Cor 6:17). 'Vessels' (keli) are the LORD's articles of service.

Verse 12

not go out with haste — Chippazon, hasty flight: the word used of Israel leaving 'Egypt in haste' (Deut 16:3), when the Egyptians were 'urgent' (Ex 12:33). Here the LORD goes before and is 'rereward' (asaph, gatherer), as the glory of the LORD is in Isa 58:8.

Verse 13

my servant shall deal prudently — Sakal, to act wisely and so prosper. 'Exalted' (rum), 'extolled' (nasa) and 'very high' (gabah) are three words for rising. Isa 6:1 uses 'high and lifted up' of the LORD; Phil 2:8–9 gives the order of descent then exaltation.

Verse 14

his visage was so marred — Mishchath, disfigurement; 'visage' (mareh) is appearance. The 'many' astonished (shamem) are those who saw him; the earlier words 'I hid not my face from shame and spitting' (Isa 50:6) were fulfilled when 'did they spit in his face' (Matt 26:67).

Verse 15

So shall he sprinkle many nations — Nazah, to sprinkle, used of expiation. Peter writes of 'sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ' (1 Pet 1:2). Paul quotes the rest in Rom 15:21, 'To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see', of preaching where Christ had not been named.