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 52:7 and Jonathan Isaiah 52:7

Hebrew Bible · Targum

Summary

Isaiah 52 announces the joyful arrival of a messenger proclaiming good news. The Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan expands on this imagery, adding that with this good news, the kingdom of God has been revealed.

Passages

Isaiah 52:7

Hebrew Bible

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.

740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Jonathan Isaiah 52:7

Targum

5 Therefore now I am ready to redeem them, says the LORD; for my people was sold for nothing; the nations that ruled over them boasted, says the LORD; and continually, all the day, they provoke them to anger because of the worship of my name. 6 Therefore my name will be magnified among the nations; therefore at that time you will know that I am He who has spoken, and my Memra will abide.” 7 How beautiful upon the mountains of the land of Israel are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace, who proclaims salvation, saying to the congregation of Zion, “The kingdom of your God is revealed.” 8 The voice of your rulers! They lift up their voice, together they offer praise, because with their eyes they see the mighty works that the LORD will do when He returns His Shekinah to Zion. 9 Break out and shout together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD will comfort His people, Jerusalem will be redeemed.

200–300 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonathan Isaiah

References

"... Lines 15 of HQ Melchizedek constitute a pesher on Isaiah 52:7 in which the mashiach is described as a mbsr, or proclaimer of glad tidings. The significance of this Old Testament passage as a background for Jesus' central message can be more clearly seen in the Targum of Isaiah which substitutes the phrase 'the kingdom of thy God hath been revealed' for the Masoretic text's 'thy God reigns.' The chief difficulty with line 18 is whether or not the substantive mashiach originally possessed the definite article. In van der Woude's original restoration of the phrase he included the definite article and noted in his commentary that this was the first use of the absolute substantive 'Messiah' in the Dead Sea manuscripts ..."

David E. Aune, A Note on Jesus' Messianic Consciousness and 11HQ Melchizedek (Evangelical Quarterly, 1973), 161–165.

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 52:7 and Jonathan Isaiah 52:7

Summary

Passages

Isaiah 52:7

Jonathan Isaiah 52:7

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library