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 Mark 1:15

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

Summary

Mark shapes Jesus’ announcement of good news with the language of Isaiah, who describes a messenger bringing news of peace and announcing that God has become king. In Mark, Jesus echoes this with his emphasis on good news and the kingdom of God.

Passages

Isaiah 52:7

Hebrew Bible

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.

740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Mark 1:15

New Testament

14 Now after John was imprisoned, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. 15 He said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!” 16 As he went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). 17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!”

60–75 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mark

References

"... From the perspective of this study, Mark’s introductory sentence is striking: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ is καθὼς γέγραπται ἐν τῷ Ἠσαΐᾳ τῷ προφήτῃ. Or in the words of Rikki Watts, ‘the “gospel” of Jesus Christ is that gospel about which Isaiah wrote.’” ... It is no accident, then, that Mark’s opening Old Testament citation comes, in part, from the opening paragraphs of Isaiah 40, the very passage which introduces into Jewish tradition the figure of the eschatological gospel-herald. Thus, when just a few paragraphs later Mark states in 1:15 that Jesus went into Galilee “preaching the gospel of God (κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ) it is highly likely that he intends for us to locate this gospel-activity also within the orbit of “the prophet Isaiah” ... Moreover, there is reason to believe that this programmatic statement in 1:15 alludes specifically to Isaiah 52:7. The terms εὐαγγελ-(ιον), λέγω, βασιλ-(εία) and θεός in verses 14–15 correspond in form, function and word order to the central part of Isaiah 52:7 in both the Masoretic text and the Septuagint. The parallel could, of course, be coincidental but the fact that Mark has already signaled his interest in the Isaianic context of Jesus’ “gospel” makes this very unlikely ..."

John P. Dickson, Mission-Commitment in Ancient Judaism and in the Pauline Communities: The Shape, Extent and Background of Early Christian Mission (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003), 161–162.

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 Mark 1:15

Summary

Passages

Isaiah 52:7

Mark 1:15

References

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