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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 4

1 Seven women will grab hold of one man at that time. They will say, “We will provide our own food, we will provide our own clothes; but let us belong to you—take away our shame!” 2 At that time the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor;⁠ the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight to those who remain in Israel. 3 Those remaining in Zion, those left in Jerusalem, will be called “holy,” all in Jerusalem who are destined to live. 4 At that time the Lord will wash the excrement from Zion’s women, he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, as he comes to judge and to bring devastation. 5 Then the Lord will create over all Mount Zion and over its convocations a cloud and smoke by day and a bright flame of fire by night;⁠ indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence. 6 By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat, as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 13:21 and Isaiah 4:5

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Isaiah describes God protecting Zion with images of cloud and fire, drawing on the wilderness tradition in Exodus. What guided Israel through the desert is reshaped into signs of shelter and safety over the city.

Passages

Exodus 13:21

Hebrew Bible
19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the Israelites solemnly swear, “God will surely attend to you, and you will carry my bones up from this place with you.” 20 They journeyed from Sukkoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the desert. 21 Now the Lord was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel day or night. 22 He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Isaiah 4:5

Hebrew Bible
4 At that time the Lord will wash the excrement from Zion’s women, he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, as he comes to judge and to bring devastation. 5 Then the Lord will create over all Mount Zion and over its convocations a cloud and smoke by day and a bright flame of fire by night; indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence. 6 By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat, as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

References

"... The passage closes with the pictures of divine protection over the city: “cloud” and “fire” that will be both a “canopy” and a “booth” to protect from heat and storm. The canopy is of cloth. The booth is a brush-arbor made of palm branches. The pictures of cloud and fire over Jerusalem are reminiscent of the priestly narrative of the presence accompanying the desert pilgrimage toward the promised land (Exodus 13:21; compare also 1 Kings 8:10). But this verse is not describing a theophany. The cloud and fire are created to protect Zion just as they are in Psalm 105:39. The contrast of God’s protection with the earlier purge is marked ..."
John D. W. Watts, Word Biblical Commentary: Isaiah 1-33 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2004), 76.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 13:21 and Isaiah 4:5

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