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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 60

1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives! The splendor of the Lord shines on you!⁠ 2 For, look, darkness covers the earth and deep darkness covers the nations, but the Lord shines on you; his splendor appears over you.⁠ 3 Nations come to your light, kings to your bright light.⁠ 4 Look all around you! They all gather and come to you—your sons come from far away, and your daughters are escorted by guardians.⁠ 5 Then you will look and smile, you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. For the riches of distant lands will belong to you, and the wealth of nations will come to you.⁠ 6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, young camels from Midian and Ephah. All the merchants of Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense and singing praises to the Lord.⁠ 7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. They will go up on my altar acceptably, and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple. 8 Who are these who float along like a cloud, who fly like doves to their shelters? 9 Indeed, the coastlands look eagerly for me; the large ships are in the lead, bringing your sons from far away, along with their silver and gold, to honor the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has bestowed honor on you. 10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls; their kings will serve you. Even though I struck you down in my anger, I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. 11 Your gates will remain open at all times; they will not be shut during the day or at night so that the wealth of nations may be delivered, with their kings leading the way.⁠ 12 Indeed, nations or kingdoms that do not serve you will perish; such nations will definitely be destroyed. 13 The splendor of Lebanon will come to you, its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together, to beautify my palace; I will bestow honor at the place of my feet24.⁠ 14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you; all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet. They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ 15 You were once abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, but I will make you a permanent source of pride and joy to coming generations. 16 You will drink the milk of nations; you will nurse at the breasts of kings.⁠ Then you will recognize that I, the Lord, am your Deliverer, your Protector, the Powerful One of Jacob. 17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold; instead of iron, I will bring you silver; instead of wood, I will bring you bronze; instead of stones, I will bring you iron. I will make prosperity your overseer, and vindication your sovereign ruler. 18 Sounds of violence will no longer be heard in your land, or the sounds of destruction and devastation within your borders. You will name your walls, ‘Deliverance’ and your gates, ‘Praise.’ 19 The sun will no longer supply light for you by day, nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you; the Lord will be your permanent source of light—the splendor of your God will shine upon you.⁠ 20 Your sun will no longer set; your moon will not disappear; the Lord will be your permanent source of light; your time of sorrow will be over. 21 All your people will be godly; they will possess the land permanently. I will plant them like a shoot; they will be the product of my labor, through whom I reveal my splendor.⁠ 22 The least of you will multiply into a thousand; the smallest of you will become a large nation. When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 60:2 and Psalm 84:11

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Isaiah 60 describes God’s light replacing the sun, and Psalm 84 describes God as both sun and shield. These reflect theology shaped by ancient Near Eastern traditions in which many gods were connected with fire, light, and the sun.

Passages

Isaiah 60:2

Hebrew Bible
1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives! The splendor of the Lord shines on you! 2 For, look, darkness covers the earth and deep darkness covers the nations, but the Lord shines on you; his splendor appears over you. 3 Nations come to your light, kings to your bright light. 4 Look all around you! They all gather and come to you—your sons come from far away, and your daughters are escorted by guardians.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Psalm 84:11

Hebrew Bible
9 O God, take notice of our shield. Show concern for your chosen king. 10 Certainly spending just one day in your temple courts is better than spending a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the entrance to the temple of my God than live in the tents of the wicked. 11 For the Lord God is a sun and a shield26. The Lord bestows favor and honor; he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. 12 O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, how blessed are those who trust in you.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... The Psalms witness to solar Yahwism as a feature of royal religion during the period of the monarchy. Psalm 91 (circa 400 BCE) demonstrates a transition from Elyon to Yahweh, who is represented as a winged deity. Verse 1 is not yet equated with Yahweh. At verse 4 Yahweh is represented as a winged deity, who at verse 11 is attended by his ministering angels, but in verse 9 the parallelism indicates that they are equated. Psalm 19:1-6 and Psalm 84:11 also reinforce the connection between Deity and sun, and in Psalm 104:1-4, Yahweh has characteristics strongly associated with the sun: wings, fire and flame. Simpson recognizes that these characteristics echo the wording, thought, and sequence of ideas contained in the Aten hymn, which dates to the much earlier period, during the reign of Akhenaten (circa 1400 BCE). Akhenaten emphasized the international supremacy of the sun disk and his own relation to it as a son … Isaiah sees Yahweh as king on his throne in the heavenly temple, with the seraphim above him, constantly intoning praises to God. The seraphim of Isaiah are “fire” and “light” beings, with human characteristics like hands, feet, eyes, and are able to utter the trisagion. However, the Hebrew word designates a serpent, possibly from siru - cuneiform for serpent, but the Septuagint simply transliterates the term “seraphim” as serapin in Isaiah 6:2. If the name is taken from the root “to burn”, then the description of these flaming winged creatures would fit well with the description of the winged allies of El, and the flamelike, fiery messengers of Yam ..."
Annette Henrietta Margaretha Evans, “The Development of Jewish Ideas of Angels: Egyptian and Hellenistic Connections, ca. 600 BCE to ca. 200 CE” (PhD diss., University of Stellenbosch, 2007), 26–35.

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 60:2 and Psalm 84:11

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