Isaiah 54:13

54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity. ¹ 

Isaiah 49:17

49:17 Your children hurry back,

while those who destroyed and devastated you depart.

Isaiah 51:20

51:20 Your children faint;

they lie at the head of every street

like an antelope in a snare.

They are left in a stupor by the Lord’s anger,

by the battle cry of your God. ² 

Isaiah 60:4

60:4 Look all around you! ³ 

They all gather and come to you –

your sons come from far away

and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

Isaiah 62:5

62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons ⁴  will marry you.

As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

Isaiah 49:22

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Isaiah 49:25

49:25 Indeed,” says the Lord,

“captives will be taken from a warrior;

spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.

I will oppose your adversary

and I will rescue your children.

Isaiah 60:9

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ⁵  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ⁶  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ⁷ 

the Holy One of Israel, ⁸  for he has bestowed honor on you.

[54:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”

[51:20]  ² tn Heb “those who are full of the anger of the Lord, the shout [or “rebuke”] of your God.”

[60:4]  ³ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”

[62:5]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (ba’al) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).

[60:9]  ⁵ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ⁸ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.