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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 54:7 and 1 Enoch 50:3

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

Isaiah 54 describes divine mercy and compassion after a period of rejection and abandonment. 1 Enoch 50 alludes to this when portraying mercy shown during judgment, including Gentiles who receive honor in the presence of the Lord of Spirits.

Passages

Isaiah 54:7

Hebrew Bible
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.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

1 Enoch 50:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 On the day of affliction when evil shall have been stored up against the sinners. And the righteous shall be victorious in the name of the Lord of Spirits: And He will cause the others to witness this so that they may repent and abandon the works of their hands. 3 They shall have no honor through the name of the Lord of Spirits, yet through His name they shall be saved, and the Lord of Spirits will have compassion on them, for His compassion is great. 4 And He is righteous also in His judgment, and in the presence of His glory unrighteousness also shall not sustain itself: At His judgment the unrepentant shall perish before Him.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... That these gentiles are saved in the name of the Lord of Spirits (verse 3h) indicates that they have the same status as the righteous mentioned in 48:7e, as is also indicated by their receipt of 'honor' in the presence of the Lord of Spirits. For God's mercy in the context of judgment, see 1 Enoch 1:8; 5:6. For mercy as a quality that the messianic king shows to the gentiles, see Psalms of Solomon 17:34: 'he will have mercy on all the nations (that stand) before him in fear' ... On God's mercies as 'great' see Isaiah 54:7 ..."
George W. E. Nickelsburg, A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 37-82 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012), 182–183.

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 54:7 and 1 Enoch 50:3

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