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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 54

1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth! Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman,”⁠ says the Lord. 2 Make your tent larger, stretch your tent curtains farther out! Spare no effort, lengthen your ropes, and pound your stakes deep. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer nations and will resettle desolate cities. 4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame. Don’t be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth; you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. 5 For your husband is the one who made you—the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name. He is your Protector, the Holy One of Israel. He is called “God of the entire earth.” 6 “Indeed, the Lord will call you back like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, like a young wife when she has been rejected,”⁠ says your God. 7 “For a short time I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you.⁠ 8 In a burst of anger I rejected you momentarily, but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,” says your Protector, the Lord. 9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood would never again cover the earth.⁠ In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.⁠ 10 Even if the mountains are removed and the hills displaced, my devotion will not be removed from you, nor will my covenant of friendship be displaced,” says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you. 11 “O afflicted one, driven away, and unconsoled! Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony and lay your foundation with lapis lazuli.⁠ 12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems, your gates out of beryl, and your outer wall out of beautiful stones. 13 All your children will be followers of the Lord, and your children will enjoy great prosperity.⁠ 14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. You will not experience oppression; indeed, you will not be afraid. You will not be terrified, for nothing frightening will come near you. 15 If anyone dares to challenge you, it will not be my doing! Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. 16 Look, I create the craftsman, who fans the coals into a fire and forges a weapon. I create the destroyer so he might devastate.⁠ 17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed; you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. This is what the Lord will do for his servants—I will vindicate them,” says the Lord.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 54:11 and 1 Enoch 24:2

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

1 Enoch reshapes Isaiah’s image of a restored city built from precious stones at the end of the exile, incorporating the image of a towering mountain complex with jewels in an apocalyptic and eschatological vision of the future.

Passages

Isaiah 54:11

Hebrew Bible
10 Even if the mountains are removed and the hills displaced, my devotion will not be removed from you, nor will my covenant of friendship be displaced,” says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you. 11 “O afflicted one, driven away, and unconsoled! Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony and lay your foundation with lapis lazuli. 12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems, your gates out of beryl, and your outer wall out of beautiful stones. 13 All your children will be followers of the Lord, and your children will enjoy great prosperity.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

1 Enoch 24:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 And from there I went to another place on the earth, and he showed me a mountain range of fire that burned day and night. 2 I went beyond it and saw seven magnificent mountains, each distinct from the others, with stones that were magnificent and beautiful, overall glorious in appearance and fair exterior: three towards the east, stacked one on top of the other, and three towards the south, each one upon the other, with deep rough ravines, none of which connected with any other. 3 The seventh mountain was in the midst of these, and it was the tallest, resembling the seat of a throne, with fragrant trees encircling the throne. 4 Among these trees was one that I had never smelled before, unlike any other; it had a scent beyond all scents, and its leaves, blooms, and wood never wither; its fruit was beautiful and resembled the dates of a palm.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... The mountain range described here closely approximates the range in 18:6–9 in its orientation, its construction of precious stones, and the centrality and towering height of the thronelike mountain. Also similar are the references to fire. While the text of verse 2 is uncertain, the author appears to think of the six mountains as an enormous dais, with steps rising from the south and the east, which supports the throne of God at its northwest apex. The text recalls descriptions of the New Jerusalem that speak of foundations and walls of precious stones. (Compare Isaiah 54:11-12, Tobit 13:16-17, Revelation 21:12-21) The reference to the ravines is unclear. If the text is correct as it stands, the ravines do not flow into one another. If the reading τὰ ὄρη of ᾶ is correct but misplaced, the ravines do not come near the throne mountain. Verse 3ab, and its reference to the throne of God, is the first of two foci in the vision ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 313.

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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Isaiah 54:11 and 1 Enoch 24:2

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