Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 62

Verse 1

MESSIAH’S HEAVENLY INTERCESSION.

1. The “Servant of Jehovah,” or Messiah, is the speaker still. He will not be at rest till what is promised in the preceding three verses is accomplished. This is the present view of the best commentators.

For Zion’s sake Zion is the generic word for the great Messianic cause.

Will I not hold my peace It is the office of Messiah to ask or to work for the earth as his inheritance, (Psalms 2:8,) and that of Jehovah to give it. Does not the passage refer rather to Messiah’s proclamation of the Gospel?

Righteousness… go forth as brightness Go forth until the holiness of the Church shall be abundantly manifest, as a light shining out of darkness. Righteousness and salvation utter each the very same idea; both are needed only to balance the sentence. The terms brightness and lamp indicate Zion as not yet so fully out of the shade as is needful; but that in good time she will enjoy abundance of light, and diffuse it unto others.

Verses 2-3

2, 3. Gentiles shall see thy righteousness The same thought in respect to the Gentiles as in Isaiah 60:3. They shall come to see the amazing moral superiority of Jehovah’s cause; and all kings, or men of power among them, shall be attracted thereto, and give it favour and advancement. Thus the Zion of God shall be called by a new name among them a name of honour pre-eminently, because seen over all other religions to be of superior holiness and character throughout. The Lord Jehovah, in the march of his redemptive providences, will bring this around. In his hands, thus dispensing light, spirit, and power, Zion is to be seen as what she really is: A crown of glory… a royal diadem; terms implying an object of superbly glorious moral beauty.

Verses 4-5

4, 5. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken Messiah and his Zion are concreted. “Thou” refers to both in one. No more shall the terms, Forsaken and Desolate be thy reproachful name. But thy new name shall be,

Hephzi-bah “My-delight-in-her,” (Hebrew.) For Jehovah does have delight in thee.

And thy land Thy home.

Beulah And this means, Happily-married one, with a home springing with joy to its possessor. This idea of possession in the words marrying a land, helps one to understand the sentence so shall thy sons marry thee; that is, shall possess thee. Wife, children, and servants, in Hebrew law, and in ruling ideas in the early ages, (Mozley,) were held in absolute possession by the chief, or head, of the family. So in the tender social sense, a young man always possesses, when he marries, his bride. As is the joy of such possession, so shall God have joy in Zion, is the thought here.

Verses 6-7

6, 7. Watchmen This alludes to the practice of stationing on city walls men who served as criers when news good or bad was to be announced. As applied to the spiritual Jerusalem or Zion, they mean instructors of the people priests and prophets, ministers of the true religion. Ezekiel 3:17; Ezekiel 33:7.

Never hold their peace Constant warning and instruction was their duty.

Make mention of the Lord The Lord’s reminders as watchmen of Israel’s highest interests were enjoined to fail not in diligence and fidelity.

Give him no rest Literally, no silence. “Ye that are set as Jehovah’s reminders give to yourselves no rest, no silence, in your assigned work; and give him (Jehovah) no rest, no silence, till he establish the newly restored Jerusalem, his holy Zion.

A praise in the earth Or, a permanent spiritual power for the salvation of the world.

Verses 8-9

8, 9. Sworn by… hand… arm Possibly in answer to the foregoing provided-for intercessions, Jehovah swears by “hand” and “arm” symbols of strength pledging infinite power to fulfil his promise.

Possibly this wrought an effect which may be paraphrased as follows: “As I am the eternal Jehovah, I never more will suffer Zion’s enemies, near or far, home or foreign, within or without, to plunder or cut off her supplies of corn and wine, both of which herself alone shall forever enjoy in the spirit of praise… in the courts of my holiness.” Enemies, abroad or near at hand, may here represent Zion’s moral foes or hinderances, within or without; and “corn” and “wine” are symbols of abounding spiritual sustenance and joy.

Verse 10

10. Go through, go through This is equivalent to, Pass on, pass on. In these words, twice repeated, a picture is given of Gentiles coming up in continuous lines for entrance through the gates of Zion, with a voice cheering them on their passage, Cast up, cast up the highway, followed by the charge to remove obstacles of idolatry from the on-coming multitudes, and to rear a standard bearing the no-doubtful motto of holiness to Jehovah. The practical truth here taught is, That hope and prayer, and unflagging work, are required for the purity and extension of Messiah’s cause in all the world.

Verse 11

11. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed Better, Jehovah proclaimeth. The message is to go to the ends of the earth. Remote nations must know that Jehovah alone is the true God, and that in a high sense his people are the only truly favoured ones of the earth. Some think the long caravan trains of returning Israel from Babylon to be the occasion for announcements such as this, here and elsewhere. Partly so, it may be; but the prophet’s ken has come to reach far above and beyond this once most important event.

Daughter of Zion Primarily, Jerusalem and its people; but the far-extending Zion of God is the larger meaning.

Thy salvation cometh Better, thy Saviour cometh. However, it matters little which terms are used; yet the latter takes precedence from what follows. His reward (Psalms 2:7) is with him Which is now coming to be a realized possession.

Verse 12

12. Time is near when the Church, so extended and flourishing, shall be called by its generally accepted name.

The holy people

the redeemed of the Lord Yea, more. Reverting back to the mother-symbol thereof, namely, Jerusalem, thou shalt be called, Sought out Derushah.

A city not forsaken Ir-lo-neezebah. So Alexander translates; and the meaning is, Thou art the all-desired place; thou art no more in peril of invasion from old enemies, as was ancient Jerusalem. Henceforth thou art the Protected-of-Jehovah; and, blessed with his smiles, thou shalt be never forsaken more.