Psalms 97:6

97:6 The sky declares his justice,

and all the nations see his splendor.

Isaiah 60:1-2

Zion’s Future Splendor

60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!

The splendor ¹  of the Lord shines on you!

60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth

and deep darkness covers ²  the nations,

but the Lord shines on you;

his splendor ³  appears over you.

Isaiah 60:7

60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ⁴ 

They will go up on my altar acceptably, ⁵ 

and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ⁶  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ⁷  instead of discouragement. ⁸ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ⁹ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ¹⁰ 

Micah 2:9

2:9 You wrongly evict widows ¹¹  among my people from their cherished homes.

You defraud their children ¹²  of their prized inheritance. ¹³ 

Zechariah 2:6-13

2:6 “You there! ¹⁴  Flee from the northland!” says the Lord, “for like the four winds of heaven ¹⁵  I have scattered you,” says the Lord. 2:7 “Escape, Zion, you who live among the Babylonians!” ¹⁶  2:8 For the Lord who rules over all says to me that for his own glory ¹⁷  he has sent me to the nations that plundered you – for anyone who touches you touches the pupil ¹⁸  of his ¹⁹  eye. 2:9 “I am about to punish them ²⁰  in such a way,” he says, “that they will be looted by their own slaves.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.

2:10 “Sing out and be happy, Zion my daughter! ²¹  For look, I have come; I will settle in your midst,” says the Lord. 2:11 “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on the day of salvation, ²²  and they will also be my ²³  people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. 2:12 The Lord will take possession of ²⁴  Judah as his portion in the holy land and he will choose Jerusalem once again. 2:13 Be silent in the Lord’s presence, all people everywhere, ²⁵  for he is being moved to action in his holy dwelling place. ²⁶ 

[60:1]  ¹ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).

[60:2]  ² tn The verb “covers” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[60:2]  ³ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions); TEV “the brightness of his presence.”

[60:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “will serve you,” i.e., be available as sacrifices (see the next line). Another option is to understood these “rams” as symbolic of leaders who will be subject to the people of Zion. See v. 10.

[60:7]  ⁵ tc Heb “they will go up on acceptance [on] my altar.” Some have suggested that the preposition עַל (’al) is dittographic (note the preceding יַעֲלוּ [ya’alu]). Consequently, the form should be emended to לְרָצוֹן (lÿratson, “acceptably”; see BDB 953 s.v. רָצוֹן). However, the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has both לרצון followed by the preposition על, which would argue against deleted the preposition. As the above translation seeks to demonstrate, the preposition עַל (’al) indicates a norm (“in accordance with acceptance” or “acceptably”; IBHS 218 §11.2.13e, n. 111) and the “altar” functions as an objective accusative with a verb of motion (cf. Gen 49:4; Lev 2:2; Num 13:17; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:534, n. 14).

[61:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ⁹ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “women.” This may be a synecdoche of the whole (women) for the part (widows).

[2:9]  ¹² tn Heb “her little children” or “her infants”; ASV, NRSV “young children.”

[2:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “from their children you take my glory forever.” The yod (י) ending on הֲדָרִי (hadariy) is usually taken as a first person common singular suffix (“my glory”). But it may be the archaic genitive ending (“glory of”) in the construct expression “glory of perpetuity,” that is, “perpetual glory.” In either case, this probably refers to the dignity or honor the Lord bestowed on each Israelite family by giving them a share of his land to be inherited perpetually from one generation to another within each family. The term הָדָר (hadar) may refer to possessions that a person prizes (Lam 1:6).

[2:6]  ¹⁴ sn These are the scattered Jews of eschatological times (as the expression four winds of heaven makes clear) and not those of Zechariah’s time who have, for the most part, already returned by 520 b.c. This theme continues and is reinforced in vv. 10-13.

[2:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “of the sky.” The same Hebrew term, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “live in [or “with” (cf. NASB), i.e., “among”] the daughter of Babylon” (so NIV; NAB “dwell in daughter Babylon”).

[2:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “After glory has he sent me” (similar KJV, NASB). What is clearly in view is the role of Zechariah who, by faithful proclamation of the message, will glorify the Lord.

[2:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “gate” (בָּבָה, bavah) of the eye, that is, pupil. The rendering of this term by KJV as “apple” has created a well-known idiom in the English language, “the apple of his eye” (so ASV, NIV). The pupil is one of the most vulnerable and valuable parts of the body, so for Judah to be considered the “pupil” of the Lord’s eye is to raise her value to an incalculable price (cf. NLT “my most precious possession”).

[2:8]  ¹⁹ tc A scribal emendation (tiqqun sopherim) has apparently altered an original “my eye” to “his eye” in order to allow the prophet to be the speaker throughout vv. 8-9. This alleviates the problem of the Lord saying, in effect, that he has sent himself on the mission to the nations.

[2:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will wave my hand over them” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “raise my hand against them.”

[2:10]  ²¹ sn This individualizing of Zion as a daughter draws attention to the corporate nature of the covenant community and also to the tenderness with which the Lord regards his chosen people.

[2:11]  ²² tn Heb “on that day.” The descriptive phrase “of salvation” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:11]  ²³ tc The LXX and Syriac have the 3rd person masculine singular suffix in both places (“his people” and “he will settle”; cf. NAB, TEV) in order to avoid the Lord’s speaking of himself in the third person. Such resort is unnecessary, however, in light of the common shifting of person in Hebrew narrative (cf. 3:2).

[2:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will inherit” (so NIV, NRSV).

[2:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all flesh”; NAB, NIV “all mankind.”

[2:13]  ²⁶ sn The sense here is that God in heaven is about to undertake an occupation of his earthly realm (v. 12) by restoring his people to the promised land.