Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 51

Verses 1-16

Encouragement of Zion (51:1—52:12)

In this section the themes which were begun in 49:14-21 are recapitulated in a rising crescendo of power and beauty. The servant has been called and commissioned, and he has acknowledged and accepted the Lord’s hand upon him (50:4-9). Now the prophet addresses those who remain in Jerusalem, a city which is lying in ruins. Note the vigorous verbs used in the exhortation: “Hearken” (51:1,7), “Listen” (51:4), “Awake” (51:9; 52:1), “Rouse yourself” (51:17), “Shake yourself from the dust, arise” (52:2), and the like.

“The Lord Will Comfort Zion” ( 51 : 1 - 16 )

In the first seven verses of this prophetic poem God speaks through the prophet to the people who are remaining in the waste places of Zion (Jerusalem). In the first strophe (vss. 1-3) he calls upon them to look to “the quarry” from which they have been digged; that is, to Abraham and to Sarah whom God called and whom he has “made . . . many.” It is for a purpose that God did this, and the people who remain in Zion are the heirs of his stated promises to Abraham. Thus Zion should be comforted because the Lord is going to make her like the Garden of Eden. In verses 4-5 there is a reference to God’s law and justice going forth as “a light to the peoples,” a salvation for all mankind (see Isaiah 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-4). When this takes place, the present heavens and earth will vanish (vs. 6 ). This last reference points forward to the prophecy of the new heavens and the new earth (65:17; 66:22-23).

The coming release of Israel from captivity and the rebuilding of Jerusalem are connected in the prophet’s mind with the end of the current age, when God’s kingdom will be world-wide in extent and when there will have been a shaking of the foundations of the universe and a reconstruction of heavens and earth. This hope as it continues in the Intertestament period is called “apocalyptic” eschatology; it differs from the eschatology of classical prophecy in the sense that there is increasingly little reference to any concrete historical circumstance on earth. The people of God in the time after the Exile will think of themselves as living in an interim, awaiting these glorious events. In the New Testament the same apocalyptic understanding will continue, being changed only in so far as the new age is to be related to the second coming of Christ. Mark 13 and Matthew 24-25 are particularly vivid illustrations of this hope arising out of the teaching of Jesus. In these passages, however, the theme of Christian watchfulness is introduced as a kind of symbol of the whole ethical life of the Christian, who remains alert, watching for the signs of the coming of the Son of man.

Ethical responsibility in the present was a theme that could be developed as a watchfulness and a service because the direction in which God intended history to move was known. Similarly, Judaism in the postexilic period developed a conception of a constitutional law which described in detail how God wished to be worshiped and served in the interim within the delayed eschatology. That is, the development of classical Judaism was a result of the delay in the complete fulfillment, as over against a partial fulfillment, of such prophecies as this.

In verses 9-11 the prophet speaks in his own name, calling upon God to awake and “put on strength” as in the days of old. The question, “Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the dragon?” is a reference to the Canaanite creation myth in which the dragon which symbolized chaos was variously named as Rahab, Leviathan, Sea, and Serpent. It was thought that Baal slew this dragon at the beginning of time, and that in this act world order was established over against chaos (see also 27:1; Job 41; Psalms 74:12-17; Amos 9:3). The poetic allusions to this myth in the literature of Israel are a way of saying metaphorically that God is the Creator. It is he who vanquished chaos. The defeat of the dragon is connected with the drying-up of the sea so that Israel could get across the border of Egypt and thus to freedom (vs. 10; see Exodus 14-15). Creation and the Exodus redemption are here related and are used as the model for the fulfillment of the promise that “the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing” (vs. 11 ).

The final words in the first section are words of comfort addressed by God directly to the fear which the people have concerning the future (vss. 12-16). The Lord is the Maker of Israel, the Creator of the universe, the Protector of his people against their enemies in the days to come, and he now says to Zion, “You are my people” (vs. 16).

“Your God Reigns” ( 51 : 17 — 52 : 12 )

Jerusalem is here pictured as one who is staggering with intoxication, having drunk the cup of the Lord’s wrath (vss. 17-23). Yet the Lord informs the people of the city that he has now taken away this cup and has given it into the hands of the tormentors of Jerusalem.

This is the setting for the new exhortation to Zion to awake and put on her “beautiful garments,” for she is going to be set free from captivity to foreign powers (52:1-2). The judgment has passed to those who have enslaved her (vss. 3-6). As Israel had been sold into slavery to these people without charge, so they are now to be redeemed without money.

At this point the prophet inserts a hymn (vss. 7-12) which describes the coming of God to Jerusalem. Verses 7-8 form the introduction and first strophe, and contain the familiar words, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace . . . who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ ” The Exile is over, and in the people’s pilgrimage to Zion the Lord will go before them and will also be their rear guard as he was in the wandering through the wilderness in the days of Moses. The return to Zion is described in terms of a great pilgrimage to the Holy City and also as a great victory of God over all those who have opposed him. These same themes were central in certain Temple services of worship in pre-exilic Jerusalem.

The mood of the prophet in this hymn is triumphant and excited, and here he brings to a climax his proclamations of the coming of the Lord and of the release of the exiles and the rebuilding of the Holy City, Zion.