Isaiah

About this book

Chapter 52

1 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! Get up, captive 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?” says the Lord. “Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing, those who rule over them taunt,” says the Lord, “and my name is constantly slandered all day long. 6 For this reason my people will know my name; for this reason they will know at that time that I am the one who says, ‘Here I am.’” 7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains the feet of a messenger who announces peace,⁠ a messenger who brings good news,⁠ who announces deliverance, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”⁠ 8 Listen, your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes 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 Jerusalem. 10 The Lord reveals his royal power in the sight of all the nations; the entire earth sees our God deliver. 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.⁠ 12 Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic.⁠ For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard. 13 Look, my servant will act wisely!²⁰ He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted—⁠ 14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man; his form was so marred he no longer looked human— 15 so now he will startle many nations. Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, for they will witness something unannounced to them, and they will understand something they had not heard about.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 52:2 and 1 Samuel 2:8

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Isaiah 52 echoes 1 Samuel 2 by using dust as a sign of defeat and loss. In 1 Samuel the poor are lifted from the dust, and Isaiah calls Jerusalem to rise from it. Both reverse the image of the serpent from Genesis 3.

Passages

Isaiah 52:2

Hebrew Bible

1 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! Get up, captive 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?” says the Lord. “Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing, those who rule over them taunt,” says the Lord, “and my name is constantly slandered all day long.

740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

1 Samuel 2:8

Hebrew Bible

6 The Lord both kills and gives life; he brings down to the grave and raises up. 7 The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy; he humbles and he exalts. 8 He lifts the weak from the dust; he raises the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes—he bestows on them an honored position. The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord—he placed the world on them. 9 He watches over his holy ones, but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness, for it is not by one’s own strength that one prevails. 10 The Lord shatters his adversaries; he thunders against them from the heavens. The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth. He will strengthen his king and exalt the power of his anointed one.”

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Samuel

References

"... The figurative uses of the noun include that of expressing abundance in Genesis 13:16; 28:14; 2 Chronicles 1:9; Numbers 23:10; Job 27:16. Dust is used figuratively for how the King of Aram destroyed Israel’s army (2 Kings 13:7; Isaiah 41:2). It expresses judgment as in Zephaniah 1:17. Raising someone from the dust is found in 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 113:7; 1 Kings 6:2; Isaiah 52:2. The connection between the dust and death can be found in Genesis 3:14, 19 and Job 5:3-7; 21:26 and other verses in the Old Testament. Haupt understands that the phrase “thou wilt eat dust” (bite the dust) means “thou wilt be prone on the ground” or “thou wilt grovel.” “Biting the dust” means “to fall, be thrown, vanquished.” The verbal root “lick up,” also describes similar processes of consuming. “The Hebrew idiom 'lick up dust’ is often used of the vanquishing of enemies. Of the nations that will one day be defeated before Israel, Micah 7:17 says, ‘they will lick up dust like the serpent.’” This alludes to Yahweh’s curse upon the serpent in Genesis 3:14, “dust shall you eat.” ..."

Afolarin Olutunde Ojewole, “The Seed in Genesis 3:15: An Exegetical and Intertextual Study” (diss., Andrews University, 2002), 143.

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

Isaiah66 chapters

Compare Isaiah 52:2 and 1 Samuel 2:8

Summary

Passages

Isaiah 52:2

1 Samuel 2:8

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library