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Jonathan Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 52

1 Reveal yourself, reveal yourself, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness; for the uncircumcised and the polluted will pass through you no more. 2 Shake yourself from the dust; arise and sit upon the throne of glory, O Jerusalem; the chains of your neck are broken, O captive congregation of Zion. 3 For thus says the LORD, “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord GOD, “My people went down in the beginning into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 5 Therefore now I am ready to redeem them, says the LORD; for my people was sold for nothing; the nations that ruled over them boasted, says the LORD; and continually, all the day, they provoke them to anger because of the worship of my name. 6 Therefore my name will be magnified among the nations; therefore at that time you will know that I am He who has spoken, and my Memra will abide.” 7 How beautiful upon the mountains of the land of Israel are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace, who proclaims salvation, saying to the congregation of Zion, “The kingdom of your God is revealed.”⁠ 8 The voice of your rulers! They lift up their voice, together they offer praise, because with their eyes they see the mighty works that the LORD will do when He returns His Shekinah to Zion. 9 Break out and shout together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD will comfort His people, Jerusalem will be redeemed. 10 The LORD has revealed His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all who are at the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. 11 Separate yourselves, separate yourselves, go out from there, do not come near the unclean; come forth from the midst of her; those who carry the vessels of the house of the sanctuary of the LORD have been chosen. 12 For you will not go forth in haste from among the nations, nor be carried in flight to your land; for your guide is the LORD, and He who will gather your captivity is the God of Israel. 13 Behold, my servant the Messiah will prosper; He will be exalted and extolled, and He will be very strong.⁠ 14 As the house of Israel anxiously hoped for Him for many days, that house which was poor among the nations, their appearance and their brightness being worse than that of the sons of men, 15 so He will scatter many nations; before Him kings will keep silence; they will put their hands upon their mouths, for that which had not been told them they will see, and that which they had not heard they will consider.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 52:7 and Jonathan Isaiah 52:7

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Isaiah 52 announces the joyful arrival of a messenger proclaiming good news. The Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan expands on this imagery, adding that with this good news, the kingdom of God has been revealed.

Passages

Isaiah 52:7

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

Jonathan Isaiah 52:7

Targum
5 Therefore now I am ready to redeem them, says the LORD; for my people was sold for nothing; the nations that ruled over them boasted, says the LORD; and continually, all the day, they provoke them to anger because of the worship of my name. 6 Therefore my name will be magnified among the nations; therefore at that time you will know that I am He who has spoken, and my Memra will abide.” 7 How beautiful upon the mountains of the land of Israel are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace, who proclaims salvation, saying to the congregation of Zion, “The kingdom of your God is revealed.” 8 The voice of your rulers! They lift up their voice, together they offer praise, because with their eyes they see the mighty works that the LORD will do when He returns His Shekinah to Zion. 9 Break out and shout together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD will comfort His people, Jerusalem will be redeemed.
200–300 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jonathan Isaiah

References

"... Lines 15 of HQ Melchizedek constitute a pesher on Isaiah 52:7 in which the mashiach is described as a mbsr, or proclaimer of glad tidings. The significance of this Old Testament passage as a background for Jesus' central message can be more clearly seen in the Targum of Isaiah which substitutes the phrase 'the kingdom of thy God hath been revealed' for the Masoretic text's 'thy God reigns.' The chief difficulty with line 18 is whether or not the substantive mashiach originally possessed the definite article. In van der Woude's original restoration of the phrase he included the definite article and noted in his commentary that this was the first use of the absolute substantive 'Messiah' in the Dead Sea manuscripts ..."
David E. Aune, A Note on Jesus' Messianic Consciousness and 11HQ Melchizedek (Evangelical Quarterly, 1973), 161–165.

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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