Isaiah 4:3-4

Context

4:3 Those remaining in Zion,¹ those left in Jerusalem,²

will be called “holy,”³

all in Jerusalem who are destined to live.⁴

4:4 At that time⁵ the sovereign master⁶ will wash the excrement⁷ from Zion’s women,

he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst,⁸

as he comes to judge

and to bring devastation.⁹

[4:3] ¹tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[4:3] ²map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:3] ³tn Or “set apart,” cf. CEV “special.”

[4:3] ⁴tn Heb “all who are written down for life in Jerusalem.” A city register is envisioned; everyone whose name appears on the roll will be spared. This group comprises the remnant of the city referred to earlier in the verse.

[4:4] ⁵tn Heb “when” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); CEV “after”; NRSV “once.”

[4:4] ⁶tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[4:4] ⁷tn The word refers elsewhere to vomit (Isa 28:8) and fecal material (Isa 36:12). Many English versions render this somewhat euphemistically as “filth” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Ironically in God’s sight the beautiful jewelry described earlier is nothing but vomit and feces, for it symbolizes the moral decay of the city’s residents (cf. NLT “moral filth”).

[4:4] ⁸sn See 1:21 for a related concept.

[4:4] ⁹tn Heb “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” The precise meaning of the second half of the verse is uncertain. רוּחַ (ruakh) can be understood as “wind” in which case the passage pictures the Lord using a destructive wind as an instrument of judgment. However, this would create a mixed metaphor, for the first half of the verse uses the imagery of washing and rinsing to depict judgment. Perhaps the image would be that of a windstorm accompanied by heavy rain. רוּחַ can also mean “spirit,” in which case the verse may be referring to the Lord’s Spirit or, more likely, to a disposition that the Lord brings to the task of judgment. It is also uncertain if בָּעַר (ba’ar) here means “burning” or “sweeping away, devastating.”