NET | Isaiah 52

52  Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!
Put on your beautiful clothes,
O Jerusalem, holy city.
For uncircumcised and unclean pagans
will no longer invade you.
2  Shake off the dirt! [ a ]
Get up, captive [ b ] Jerusalem.
Take off the iron chains around your neck,
O captive daughter Zion.

3  For this is what the   Lord   says:

“You were sold for nothing,
and you will not be redeemed for money.”

4  For this is what the Sovereign   Lord   says:

“In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt;
Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.
5  And now, what do we have here?” [ c ] says the   Lord   .
“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,
those who rule over them taunt,” [ d ] says the   Lord   ,
“and my name is constantly slandered [ e ] all day long.
6  For this reason my people will know my name;
for this reason they will know [ f ] at that time [ g ] that I am the one who says,
‘Here I am.’”
7  How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains [ h ]
the feet of a messenger who announces peace,
a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” [ i ]
8  Listen, [ j ] your watchmen shout;
in unison they shout for joy,
for they see with their very own eyes [ k ]
the   Lord   ’s return to Zion.
9  In unison give a joyful shout,
O ruins of Jerusalem!
For the   Lord   consoles his people;
he protects [ l ] Jerusalem.
10  The   Lord   reveals [ m ] his royal power [ n ]
in the sight of all the nations;
the entire [ o ] earth sees
our God deliver. [ p ]
11  Leave! Leave! Get out of there!
Don’t touch anything unclean!
Get out of it!
Stay pure, you who carry the   Lord   ’s holy items. [ q ]
12  Yet do not depart quickly
or leave in a panic. [ r ]
For the   Lord   goes before you;
the God of Israel is your rear guard.

The Lord Will Vindicate His Servant

13  Look, my servant will succeed! [ s ]
He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted [ t ] —
14  (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) [ u ]
he was so disfigured [ v ] he no longer looked like a man; [ w ]
his form was so marred he no longer looked human [ x ] —
15  so now [ y ] he will startle [ z ] many nations.
Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, [ aa ]
for they will witness something unannounced to them,
and they will understand something they had not heard about.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 52:2 tn Heb “Shake yourself free from the dirt.”
  2. Isaiah 52:2 tc The Hebrew text has שְּׂבִי ( sh e vi ), which some understand as a feminine singular imperative from יָשַׁב ( yashav , “sit”). The LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum support the MT reading (the Qumran scroll 1QIsa a does indirectly). Some interpret this to mean “take your throne”: The Lord exhorts Jerusalem to get up from the dirt and sit, probably with the idea of sitting in a place of honor (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:361)(cf. NLT, NIV, TNIV, HCSB). However, the form likely needs to be emended to שְׁבִיָּה ( sh e viyyah , “captive”), which appears in the parallel line (cf. NASB, RSV, NRSV).
  3. Isaiah 52:5 tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading ( Qere )] to me here?”
  4. Isaiah 52:5 tn The verb appears to be a Hiphil form from the root יָלַל ( yalal , “howl”), perhaps here in the sense of “mock.” Some emend the form to יְהוֹלָלוֹ ( y e holalo ) and understand a Polel form of the root הָלַל meaning here “mock, taunt.”
  5. Isaiah 52:5 tn The verb is apparently a Hitpolal form (with assimilated tav ,  ת ) from the root נָאַץ ( naʾats ), but GKC 151-52 §55. b explains it as a mixed form, combining Pual and Hitpolel readings.
  6. Isaiah 52:6 tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
  7. Isaiah 52:6 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
  8. Isaiah 52:7 tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”
  9. Isaiah 52:7 tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect third person masculine singular מָלַךְ [ malakh ], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10 ;   1 Kgs 1:11 ,   13 ,   18 ;   2 Kgs 9:13 . The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.
  10. Isaiah 52:8 tn קוֹל ( qol , “voice”) is used at the beginning of the verse as an interjection.
  11. Isaiah 52:8 tn Heb “eye in eye”; KJV, ASV “eye to eye”; NAB “directly, before their eyes.”
  12. Isaiah 52:9 tn Or “redeems.” See the note at 41:14 .
  13. Isaiah 52:10 tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”
  14. Isaiah 52:10 tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.
  15. Isaiah 52:10 tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.
  16. Isaiah 52:10 tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.
  17. Isaiah 52:11 tn Heb “the vessels of the   Lord   ” (so KJV, NAB).
  18. Isaiah 52:12 tn Heb “or go in flight”; NAB “leave in headlong flight.”
  19. Isaiah 52:13 tn Heb “act wisely,” which by metonymy means “succeed.”
  20. Isaiah 52:13 tn This piling up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of the servant’s coming exaltation.
  21. Isaiah 52:14 tn Some witnesses read “him,” which is more consistent with the context, where the servant is spoken about, not addressed. However, it is possible that the Lord briefly addresses the servant here. The present translation assumes the latter view and places the phrase in parentheses.
  22. Isaiah 52:14 tn Heb “such was the disfigurement.” The noun מִשְׁחַת ( mishkhat ) occurs only here. It may be derived from the verbal root שָׁחַת ( shakhat , “be ruined”; see BDB 1007-8 s.v. שָׁחַת ). The construct form appears here before a prepositional phrase (cf. GKC 421 §130. a ).
  23. Isaiah 52:14 tn Heb “from a man his appearance.” The preposition מִן ( min ) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.” See BDB 583 s.v.
  24. Isaiah 52:14 tn Heb “and his form from the sons of men.” The preposition מִן ( min ) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.”
  25. Isaiah 52:15 tn This statement completes the sentence begun in v. 14a . The introductory כֵּן ( ken ) answers to the introductory כַּאֲשֶׁר ( kaʾasher ) of v. 14a .   Verses 14b-15a are parenthetical, explaining why many were horrified.
  26. Isaiah 52:15 tn Traditionally the verb יַזֶּה ( yazzeh , a Hiphil stem) has been understood as a causative of נָזָה ( nazah , “spurt, spatter”) and translated “sprinkle.” In this case the passage pictures the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (or spiritually cleanses) the nations. Though the verb נָזָה does occur in the Hiphil with the meaning “sprinkle,” the usual interpretation is problematic. In all other instances where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is combined with a preposition. This is not the case in Isaiah 52:15 , unless one takes the following עָלָיו ( ʿalayv , “on him”) with the preceding line. But then one would have to emend the verb to a plural, make the nations the subject of the verb “sprinkle,” and take the servant as the object. Consequently some interpreters doubt the cultic idea of “sprinkling” is present here. Some emend the text; others propose a homonymic root meaning “spring, leap,” which in the Hiphil could mean “cause to leap, startle” and would fit the parallelism of the verse nicely.
  27. Isaiah 52:15 tn Heb “Because of him kings will shut their mouths,” i.e., be speechless.