Table of Contents
Isaiah 52
Isaiah 52
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your reward.
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
Notes
Cross Reference
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 2
<html><b>Shake yourself</b> Heb. הִתְנַעֲרִי, escourre in O.F., to shake strongly, like one who shakes out a garment. <b>arise</b> from the ground, from the decree (supra 3:26), “She shall sit on the ground.” <b>sit down</b> on a throne. <b>free yourself</b> Untie yourself [from Jonathan]. <b>bands of</b> Heb. מוֹסְרֵי, cringatro umbriah in O.F., [strap]. <b>captive</b> Heb. שְׁבִיָה, like שְׁבוּיָה, captive.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>You were sold for nought</b> Because of worthless matters, i.e., the evil inclination, which affords you no reward. <b>and you shall not be redeemed for money</b> but with repentance.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>My people first went down to Egypt</b> The Egyptians had somewhat of a debt upon them, for they served for them as their hosts and sustained them, but Assyria oppressed them for nothing and without cause.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>And now, what have I here</b> Why do I stay and detain My children here? <b>boast</b> Heb. יְהֵילִילוּ, Boast saying, “Our hand was powerful.” <b>is blasphemed</b> Blasphemes itself, and this is an instance similar to (Num 7:89) “And he heard the voice speaking to him.”</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>My people shall know</b> When I redeem them, they will recognize that My name is master, monarch, and ruler, as is its apparent meaning. <b>therefore, on that day</b> The day of their redemption, they will understand that I am He Who speaks, and behold, I have fulfilled the prophecy.</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>The voice of your watchmen</b> The watchmen who are stationed on the walls and the towers to report and to see (to see and to report [Parshandatha]) who comes to the city.</html>
Verse 10
<html><b>has revealed</b> Heb. חָשַׂף, has revealed.</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>touch no unclean one</b> They shall be abominable to you to touch them. <b>get out of its midst</b> Out of the midst of the exile, for all these last consolations refer only to the last exile. <b>purify yourselves</b> Heb. הִבָּרוּ, purify yourselves. <b>you who bear the Lord’s vessels</b> You, the priests and the Levites, who carried the vessels of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the desert [from here is proof of the resurrection of the dead].</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>for…goes before you</b> Two things at the end of this verse explain two things in its beginning, [viz.] For not with haste shall you go forth. What is the reason? For the Lord goes before you to lead you on the way, and one whose agent advances before him to lead him on the way his departure is not in haste. And not in the flurry of flight shall you go, for your rear guard is the God of Israel. He will follow you to guard you from any pursuer. Comp. (Num. 10:25) “And the division of the camp of Dan shall travel, the rear guard of all the camps.” Whoever goes after the camp is called מְאַסֵּף, the rear guard, because he waits for the stragglers and the stumblers. Similarly, Scripture states in Joshua (6: 13): “And the rear guard was going after the Ark.”</html>
Verse 13
<html><b>Behold My servant shall prosper</b> Behold, at the end of days, My servant, Jacob, [i.e.,] the righteous among him, shall prosper.</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>As many wondered</b> As many peoples wondered about them when they saw them in their humble state, and said to one another, How marred is his [Israel’s] appearance from that of a man! See how their features are darker than those of other people, so, as we see with our eyes.</html>
Verse 15
<html><b>So shall he cast down many nations</b> So now, even he his hand will become powerful, and he will cast down the horns of the nations who scattered him. <b>shall shut</b> Heb. יִקְפְּצוּ. They shall shut their mouths out of great bewilderment. <b>for</b> honor. <b>what had not been told them</b> concerning any man, they saw in him. <b>they gazed</b> Heb. הִתְבּוֹנָנוּ, they gazed.</html>