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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 62

1 For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines brightly and her deliverance burns like a torch. 2 Nations will see your vindication, and all kings your splendor. You will be called by a new name that the Lord himself will give you. 3 You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal turban in the hand of your God.⁠ 4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,” and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.” Indeed, you will be called “My Delight is in Her” and your land “Married.” For the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married to him. 5 As a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so your God will rejoice over you. 6 I post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. You who pray to the Lord, don’t be silent!⁠ 7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth. 8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand, by his strong arm: “I will never again give your grain to your enemies as food, and foreigners will not drink your wine, which you worked hard to produce.⁠ 9 “But those who harvest the grain will eat it, and will praise the Lord. Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine in the courts of my holy sanctuary.” 10 Come through! Come through the gates! Prepare the way for the people! Build it—build the roadway! Remove the stones. Lift a signal flag for the nations. 11 Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘Look, your deliverer comes! Look, his reward is with him, and his reward goes before him!’” 12 They will be called, “The Holy People, the Ones Protected by the Lord.” You will be called, “Sought After, City Not Abandoned.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 28:30 and Isaiah 62:8

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Isaiah 62 reverses imagery from Deuteronomy 28, where building houses, planting vineyards, and forming marriages lead to loss. In Isaiah, these same activities become secure and fruitful, signaling a transformation from curse to blessing.

Passages

Deuteronomy 28:30

Hebrew Bible
29 You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; you will be constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. 30 You will be engaged to a woman, and another man will rape her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes, but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to save you. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Isaiah 62:8

Hebrew Bible
7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth. 8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand, by his strong arm: “I will never again give your grain to your enemies as food, and foreigners will not drink your wine, which you worked hard to produce. 9 “But those who harvest the grain will eat it, and will praise the Lord. Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine in the courts of my holy sanctuary.” 10 Come through! Come through the gates! Prepare the way for the people! Build it—build the roadway! Remove the stones. Lift a signal flag for the nations.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

References

"... these chapters furnish mixed evidence from the perspective of geography, as they describe the journey back as a magnificent transformation of desert landscape and large water flows on the way, but have almost nothing about the arrival to the land and its physical state. This raises the possibility that the authors of Isaiah 40–48 were primarily familiar with the landscape characteristics of Mesopotamia, rather than with those of Yehud. However, Isaiah 49–55 and Isaiah 56–66 focus on Jerusalem and Judah, yet, surprisingly, only relatively few passages portray the city’s physical or geographical restoration (49:14–21; 51:1–3; 54:11–17; 60:16–17; 61:3–7; 62:1–9) and, again, hardly any pay attention to the more profound and comprehensive need to revive the land from its desolation (compare Ezekiel 36:6–15) ... Isaiah 62:8 and 65:21–22 reverse curse traditions, e.g., Deuteronomy 28:30–33, 49–51, or employ Isaiah 11:1–10 ..."
Dalit Rom-Shiloni, “Exile in the Book of Isaiah,” in The Oxford Handbook of Isaiah, ed. Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 293–317.

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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Deuteronomy 28:30 and Isaiah 62:8

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