Isaiah 35:10

35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ¹ 

They will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ² 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ³  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ⁴ 

Isaiah 51:10-11

51:10 Did you not dry up the sea,

the waters of the great deep?

Did you not make ⁵  a path through the depths of the sea,

so those delivered from bondage ⁶  could cross over?

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ⁷ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ⁸  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ⁹ 

Isaiah 55:12

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

Jeremiah 31:11-12

31:11 For the Lord will rescue the descendants of Jacob.

He will secure their release ¹⁰  from those who had overpowered them. ¹¹ 

31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.

They will be radiant with joy ¹²  over the good things the Lord provides,

the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,

the young sheep and calves he has given to them.

They will be like a well-watered garden

and will not grow faint or weary any more.

[35:10]  ¹ tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”

[35:10]  ² tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[35:10]  ³ tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”

[35:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

[51:10]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made…?”

[51:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “the redeemed” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “the ransomed.”

[51:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[51:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”

[31:11]  ¹⁰ sn Two rather theologically significant metaphors are used in this verse. The Hebrew word translated “will set…free” is a word used in the legal sphere for paying a redemption price to secure the freedom of a person or thing (see, e.g., Exod 13:13, 15). It is used metaphorically and theologically to refer to Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Deut 15:15; Mic 6:4) and its deliverance from Babylonian exile (Isa 35:10). The word translated “secure their release” is a word used in the sphere of family responsibility where a person paid the price to free an indentured relative (Lev 25:48, 49) or paid the price to restore a relative’s property seized to pay a debt (Lev 25:25, 33). This word, too, was used to refer metaphorically and theologically to Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Exod 6:6) or release from Babylonian exile (Isa 43:1-4; 44:22). These words are traditionally translated “ransom” and “redeem” and are a part of traditional Jewish and Christian vocabulary for physical and spiritual deliverance.

[31:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from the hand/power of the one too strong for him.”

[31:12]  ¹² tn Reading a Qal perfect from the root II נָהַר (nahar; so KBL 509 s.v. and HALOT 639 s.v.) rather than I נָהַר (so BDB 625 s.v.).