Text -- Isaiah 52:1-15 (NET)

52:1 Wake up! Wake up! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful clothes, O Jerusalem, holy city! For uncircumcised and unclean pagans will no longer invade you. 52:2 Shake off the dirt! Get up, captive Jerusalem! Take off the iron chains around your neck, O captive daughter Zion! 52:3 For this is what the Lord says: “You were sold for nothing, and you will not be redeemed for money.” 52:4 For this is what the sovereign Lord says: “In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt; Assyria oppressed them for no good reason. 52:5 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. 52:6 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.’” 52:7 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!” 52:8 Listen, your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes the Lord’s return to Zion. 52:9 In unison give a joyful shout, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord consoles his people; he protects Jerusalem. 52:10 The Lord reveals his royal power in the sight of all the nations; the entire earth sees our God deliver. 52:11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don’t touch anything unclean! Get out of it! Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items! 52:12 Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

The Lord Will Vindicate His Servant

52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed! He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted– 52:14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man; 52:15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human– so now he will startle many nations. Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, for they will witness something unannounced to them, and they will understand something they had not heard about.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 52:1

¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

NET Notes: Isa 52:2

¹ tn Heb “Shake yourself free from the dirt.”

² tc The Hebrew text has שְּׂבִי (shÿvi), which some understand as a feminine singular imperative from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit”). The LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum support the MT reading (the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does indirectly). Some interpret this to mean “take your throne”: The Lord exhorts Jerusalem to get up from the dirt and sit, probably with the idea of sitting in a place of honor (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:361). However, the form is likely a corruption of שְׁבִיָּה (shÿviyyah, “captive”), which appears in the parallel line.

NET Notes: Isa 52:5

¹ tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading (Qere)] to me here?”

² tn The verb appears to be a Hiphil form from the root יָלַל (yalal, “howl”), perhaps here in the sense of “mock.” Some emend the form to יְהוֹלָּלוֹ (yÿhollalo) and understand a Polel form of the root הָלַל meaning here “mock, taunt.”

³ tn The verb is apparently a Hitpolal form (with assimilated tav, ת) from the root נָאַץ (na’ats), but GKC 151-52 §55.b explains it as a mixed form, combining Pual and Hitpolel readings.

NET Notes: Isa 52:6

¹ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

² tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

NET Notes: Isa 52:7

¹ tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”

² tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.

NET Notes: Isa 52:8

¹ tn קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used at the beginning of the verse as an interjection.

² tn Heb “eye in eye”; KJV, ASV “eye to eye”; NAB “directly, before their eyes.”

NET Notes: Isa 52:9

¹ tn Or “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

NET Notes: Isa 52:10

¹ tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”

² tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.

³ tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.

⁴ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.

NET Notes: Isa 52:11

¹ tn Heb “the vessels of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

NET Notes: Isa 52:12

¹ tn Heb “or go in flight”; NAB “leave in headlong flight.”

NET Notes: Isa 52:13

¹ tn Heb “act wisely,” which by metonymy means “succeed.”

² tn This piling up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of the servant’s coming exaltation.

NET Notes: Isa 52:14

¹ tn Some witnesses read “him,” which is more consistent with the context, where the servant is spoken about, not addressed. However, it is possible that the Lord briefly addresses the servant here. The present translation assumes the latter view and places the phrase in parentheses.

² tn Heb “such was the disfigurement.” The noun מִשְׁחַת (mishkhat) occurs only here. It may be derived from the verbal root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “be ruined”; see BDB 1007-8 s.v. שָׁחַת). The construct form appears here before a prepositional phrase (cf. GKC 421 §130.a).

³ tn Heb “from a man his appearance.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.” See BDB 583 s.v.

NET Notes: Isa 52:15

¹ tn Heb “and his form from the sons of men.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.”

² tn This statement completes the sentence begun in v. 14a. The introductory כֵּן (ken) answers to the introductory כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher) of v. 14a. Verses 14b-15a are parenthetical, explaining why many were horrified.

³ tn Traditionally the verb יַזֶּה (yazzeh, a Hiphil stem) has been understood as a causative of נָזָה (nazah, “spurt, spatter”) and translated “sprinkle.” In this case the passage pictures the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (or spiritually cleanses) the nations. Though the verb נָזָה does occur in the Hiphil with the meaning “sprinkle,” the usual interpretation is problematic. In all other instances where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is combined with a preposition. This is not the case in Isaiah 52:15, unless one takes the following עָלָיו (’alayv, “on him”) with the preceding line. But then one would have to emend the verb to a plural, make the nations the subject of the verb “sprinkle,” and take the servant as the object. Consequently some interpreters doubt the cultic idea of “sprinkling” is present here. Some emend the text; others propose a homonymic root meaning “spring, leap,” which in the Hiphil could mean “cause to leap, startle” and would fit the parallelism of the verse nicely.

⁴ tn Heb “Because of him kings will shut their mouths,” i.e., be speechless.