Isaia 52:1 Commento

The greater part of this chapter is on the same subject with the chapter before, concerning the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, which yet is applicable to the great salvation Christ has wrought out for us; but the last three verses are on the same subject with the following chapter, concerning the person of the Redeemer, his humiliation and exaltation. Observe, I. The encouragement that is given to the Jews in captivity to hope that God would deliver them in his own way and time (Isa 52:1-6). II. The great joy and rejoicing that shall be both with ministers and people upon that occasion (Isa 52:7-10). III. The call given to those that remained in captivity to shift for their own enlargement when liberty was proclaimed (Isa 52:11, Isa 52:12). IV. A short idea given here of the Messiah, which is enlarged upon in the next chapter (Isa 52:13-15).

Here, I. God's people are stirred up to appear vigorous for their own deliverance, Isa 52:1, Isa 52:2. They had desired that God would awake and put on his strength, Isa 51:9. Here he calls upon them to awake and put on their strength, to bestir themselves; let them awake from their despondency, and pluck up their spirits, encourage themselves and one another with the hope that all will be well yet, and no longer succumb and sink under their burden. Let them awake from their distrust, look above them, look about them, look into the promises, look into the providences of God that were working for them, and let them raise their expectations of great things from God. Let them awake from their dullness, sluggishness, and incogitancy, and raise up their endeavours, not to take any irregular courses for their own relief, contrary to the law of nations concerning captives, but to use all likely means to recommend themselves to the favour of the conqueror and make an interest with him. God here gives them an assurance, 1. That they should be reformed by their captivity: There shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isa 52:1); their idolatrous customs should be no more introduced, or at least not harboured; for when by the marriage of strange wives, in Ezra's time and Nehemiah's, the unclean crept in, they were soon by the vigilance and zeal of the magistrates expelled again, and care was taken that Jerusalem should be a holy city. Thus the gospel Jerusalem is purified by the blood of Christ and the grace of God, and made indeed a holy city. 2. That they should be relieved and rescued out of their captivity, that the bands of their necks should be loosed, that they should not now be any longer oppressed, nay, that they should not be any more invaded, as they had been: There shall no more come against thee (so it may be read) the uncircumcised and the clean. The heathen shall not again enter into God's sanctuary and profane his temple, Psa 79:1. This must be understood with a condition. If they keep close to God, and keep in with him, God will keep off, will keep out of the enemy; but, if they again corrupt themselves, Antiochus will profane their temple and the Romans will destroy it. However, for some time they shall have peace. And to this happy change, now approaching, they are here called to accommodate themselves. (1.) Let them prepare for joy: "Put on thy beautiful garments, no longer to appear in mourning weeds and the habit of thy widowhood. Put on a new face, a smiling countenance, now that a new and pleasant scene begins to open." The beautiful garments were laid up then, when the harps were hung on the willow trees; but, now there is occasion for both, let both be resumed together. "Put on thy strength, and, in order to that, put on thy beautiful garments, in token of triumph and rejoicing." Note, The joy of the Lord will be our strength (Neh 8:10), and our beautiful garments will serve for armour of proof against the darts of temptation and trouble. And observe, Jerusalem must put on her beautiful garments when she becomes a holy city, for the beauty of holiness is the most amiable beauty, and the more holy we are the more cause we have to rejoice. (2.) Let them prepare for liberty: "Shake thyself from the dust in which thou hast lain, and into which thy proud oppressors have trodden thee (Isa 51:23), or into which thou hast in thy extreme sorrow rolled thyself." Arise, and set up; so it may be read. "O Jerusalem! prepare to get clear of all the marks of servitude thou hast been under and to shift thy quarters: Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck; be inspired with generous principles and resolutions to assert thy own liberty." The gospel proclaims liberty to those who were bound with fears and makes it their duty to take hold of their liberty. Let those who have been weary and heavily laden under the burden of sin, finding relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and fears and loose themselves from those bands; for, if the Son make them free, they shall be free indeed. II. God stirs up himself to appear jealous for the deliverance of his people. He here pleads their cause with himself, and even stirs up himself to come and save them, for his reasons of mercy are fetched from himself. Several things he here considers. 1. That the Chaldeans who oppressed them never acknowledged God in the power they gained over his people, any more than Sennacherib did, who, when God made use of him as an instrument for the correction and reformation of his people, meant not so, Isa 10:6, Isa 10:7. "You have sold yourselves for nought; you got nothing by it, nor did I," Isa 52:3. (God considers that when they by sin had sold themselves he himself, who had the prior, nay, the sole, title to them, did not increase his wealth by their price, Psa 44:12. They did not so much as pay their debts to him with it; the Babylonians gave him no thanks for them, but rather reproached and blasphemed his name upon that account.) "And therefore they, having so long had you for nothing, shall at last restore you for nothing: You shall be redeemed without price," as was promised, Isa 45:13. Those that give nothing must expect to get nothing; however, God is a debtor to no man. 2. That they had been often before in similar distress, had often smarted for a time under the tyranny of their task-masters, and therefore it was a pity that they should now be left always in the hand of these oppressors (Isa 52:4): "My people went down into Egypt, in an amicable way to settle there; but they enslaved them, and ruled them with rigour." And then they were delivered, notwithstanding the pride, and power, and policies of Pharaoh. And why may we not think God will deliver his people now? At other times the Assyrian oppressed the people of God without cause, as when the ten tribes were carried away captive by the king of Assyria; soon afterwards Sennacherib, another Assyrian, with a destroying army oppressed and made himself master of all the defenced cities of Judah. The Babylonians might not unfitly be called Assyrians, their monarchy being a branch of the Assyrians; and they now oppressed them without cause. Though God was righteous in delivering them into their hands, they were unrighteous in using them as they did, and could not pretend a dominion over them as their subjects, as Pharaoh might when they were settled in Goshen, part of his kingdom. When we suffer by the hands of wicked and unreasonable men it is some comfort to be able to say that as to them it is without cause, that we have not given them any provocation, Psa 7:3-5, etc. 3. That God's glory suffered by the injuries that were done to his people (Isa 52:5): What have I here, what do I get by it, that my people are taken away for nought? God is not worshipped as he used to be in Jerusalem, his altar there is gone and his temple in ruins; but if, in lieu of that, he were more and better worshipped in Babylon, either by the captives or by the natives, it were another matter - God might be looked upon as in some respects a gainer in his honour by it; but, alas! it is not so. (1.) The captives are so dispirited that they cannot praise him; instead of this they are continually howling, which grieves him and moves his pity; Those that rule over them make them to howl, as the Egyptians of old made them to sigh, Exo 2:23. So the Babylonians now, using them more hardly, extorted from them louder complaints and made them to howl. This gives us no pleasing idea of the temper the captives were now in; their complaints were not so rational and pious as they should have been, but brutish rather; they howled, Hos 7:14. However God heard them, and came down to deliver them, as he did out of Egypt, Exo 3:7, Exo 3:8. (2.) The natives are so insolent that they will not praise him, but, instead of that, they are continually blaspheming, which affronts him and moves his anger. They boasted that they were too hard for God because they were too hard for his people, and set him at defiance, as unable to deliver them, and thus his name continually every day was blasphemed among them. When they praised their own idols they lifted up themselves against the Lord of heaven, Dan 5:23. "Now," says God, "this is not to be suffered. I will go down to deliver them; for what honour, what rent, what tribute of praise have I from the world, when my people, who should be to me for a name and praise, are to me for a reproach? For their oppressors will neither praise God themselves nor let them do it." The apostle quotes this with application to the wicked lives of the Jews, by which God was dishonoured among the Gentiles then, as much as now he was by their sufferings, Rom 2:23, Rom 2:24. 4. That his glory would be greatly manifested by their deliverance (Isa 52:6): "Therefore, because my name is thus blasphemed, I will arise, and my people shall know my name, my name Jehovah." By this name he had made himself known in delivering them out of Egypt, Exo 6:3. God will do something to vindicate his own honour, something for his great name; and his people, who have almost lost the knowledge of it, shall know it to their comfort and shall find it their strong tower. They shall know that God's providence governs the world, and all the affairs of it, that it is he who speaks deliverance for them by the word of his power, that it is he who speaks deliverance for them by the word of his power, that it is he only, who at first spoke and it was done. They shall know that God's word, which Israel is blessed with above other nations, shall without fail have its accomplishment in due season, that it is he who speaks by the prophet; it is he, and they do not speak of themselves; for not one iota or tittle of what they say shall fall to the ground.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 52 This chapter is a prophecy of the glorious state of the church in the latter day, typified by the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon. The church, under the names of Zion and Jerusalem, is exhorted to awake and clothe herself with strength, and with beautiful garments, to shake off her dust, and loose her bands, since she should become a pure and separate people, Isa 52:1 and whereas the Lord's people had been afflicted formerly by the Egyptians, and more lately by the Assyrians, a free redemption is promised them; and the rather they might expect it, since the Lord was no gainer by their affliction, but a loser in his name and honour, as well as they distressed, Isa 52:3. And it is suggested, that the knowledge of the Lord should be spread, the good tidings of peace and salvation be delightfully published, and that the ministers of the Gospel should have clear light, and be harmonious and unanimous in the publishing of it, Isa 52:6. Upon which the waste places of Jerusalem are called upon to rejoice, both because of the restoration of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles, Isa 2:9. And the people of God are called to go out of Babylon, the manner of their departure is directed, and something said for their encouragement, Isa 52:11. And the chapter is concluded with some account of the Messiah, of his humiliation and exaltation, and of his work and office, Isa 52:13, and which are enlarged upon in the next chapter, which ought properly to begin with these last verses.

Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion,.... Aben Ezra says, all interpreters agree that this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, and so it is: by Zion is meant the church in Gospel times, in the latter day glory, which is called upon to awake out of sleep; and this repeated to show what a deep sleep had fallen on her, the danger she was in through it, and the vehemency of the speaker, or the great concern the Lord had for her; and this is the very state and case of the church of Christ now, and the prophecy respects our times, and what follow. There is a general carnal security, and spiritual drowsiness, which has seized the people of God; a non-exercise of grace among them, at least it is not a lively one; a sluggishness to and in duty; a contentment in the external performance of it; an indifference about the cause of Christ, and power of religion; and an unconcernedness about the truths and ordinances of the Gospel, the discipline of Christ's house, and the honour of it; which the enemy takes the advantage of, and sows his tares of false doctrine and worship; wherefore it is high time to "awake" out of sleep, and to "put on strength", or "clothe" (e) with it, and do the Lord's will, and work and oppose the enemy. Saints are weak in themselves, but they have strength in Christ, and on him should they wait, to him should they look, and on him should they exercise faith for it; they should put on the whole armour of God, clothe themselves with it, resume courage, pluck up a good heart and spirit, and not fear any difficulties, dangers, and enemies. Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; another name for the Gospel church, see Heb 12:22, and which is called "the holy city"; referring to the times in the latter day, when holiness shall more appear and prevail in the churches; when saints shall be built up in their holy faith, and more closely attend to holy ordinances, and walk in an holy conversation and godliness; and especially the New Jerusalem church state will answer to this name, and so it is called, Rev 21:2, and when the saints will "put on" their "beautiful garments", as on holy days, and times of rejoicing; their mourning will be over, and all signs of it shall be laid aside; the witnesses will no more prophesy in sackcloth; the marriage of the Lamb will be come; the bride made ready, being clothed with fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints, the garments of Christ's salvation, and the robe of his righteousness; which are the beautiful garments here meant, which serve for many, and answer all the purposes of a garment; as to cover nakedness, preserve from the inclemency of the weather, keep warm and comfortable, beautify and adorn; and beautiful they are, being all of a piece, large and long, pure and spotless, rich and glorious, and which make those beautiful that wear them; and though, being once on, they are never off again; yet saints sometimes are remiss in their acts of faith in putting them on, to which they are here exhorted; see Rev 19:7, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean; this shows that the prophecy cannot be understood of Jerusalem literally, nor of the times of the Babylonish captivity, and deliverance from it, since after this the uncircumcised and the unclean did enter into it, Antiochus Epiphanes, Pompey, and the Romans; but of the mystical Jerusalem, the church of Christ, in the latter day, the spiritual reign of Christ; when the Gentiles, the Papists, meant by the uncircumcised and the unclean, shall no more "come against" them, as the words (f) may be rendered, and persecute them; and when there will be no more a mixture of Papists and Protestants, of heretics and orthodox, of hypocrites and saints; and when there will be few or none under a profession but will have the truth of grace in them; when every pot and vessel in Jerusalem will be holiness to the Lord, and the Heathen will be perished out of the land, Zac 14:21, and especially this will be true in the personal reign of Christ, in the New Jerusalem church state, into which nothing shall enter that defiles, or makes an abomination, and a lie, Rev 21:27. (e) , Sept.; "induere fortitudine tua", V. L. "induere robur tunm", Vitringa. (f) "non veniet contra te", Gataker; "non perget invadere te", Junius & Tremellius; "non pergent", Piscator.

And it is called the city of sanctuary, for qodeš means that quality on which the city was founded. Or it is called the city of the holy one, because of the knowledge of God, or it is called the holy city because, of all the world’s cities, it alone accepted the law. Hence, after the resurrection of the Savior the bodies of many dead people appeared in the holy city, which because of blasphemy and the hands laid on the Lord could not until then have been holy.

(Chapter 52, Verse 1) Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your garments of glory, O Jerusalem, holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean will no longer pass through you. (Verse 1 according to the Septuagint) Rise up, rise up, O Zion; put on your strength, O Zion, and put on your glory, O Jerusalem, holy city. Never again will the uncircumcised and the unclean pass through you. Again, in this place the name Zion is added, as in the Septuagint above, and for this reason it has been slain with the spear. To whom, therefore, he had said above (Chapter 51, verse 9): Lift up, lift up, arise, O Jerusalem; now he speaks to the same: Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion. But the following verse shows what Zion is: Put on your garments of glory, O Jerusalem. We have said this in order to prove that Jerusalem and Zion are one city. And it is commanded to her that she shall put off her mourning garments, and put on those which she had before she drank from the hand of the Lord the cup of fury. And the city is called the sanctuary, for it signifies 'codes' due to the temple that was established in it. Whether it is called 'holy' due to the knowledge of God, or 'sacred' because it alone in the world received the law. Therefore, even after the resurrection of the Savior, the bodies of the dead appeared in the holy city. However, because of blasphemy and the shedding of blood against the Lord, it could not be called holy (Matthew 27). And what is promised, if it rises after its ruin and is clothed with strength and glory, signifies that it will no longer be crossed by the uncircumcised and impure, as the Apostle Paul also says: 'What fellowship can righteousness have with iniquity?' Which society for light to darkness? Which agreement for Christ to Belial? Which part has the faithful with the unbeliever? What consensus has the temple of God with idols (I Cor. VI, 14, 15)? All of these, as we have begun to explain, refer to the state of the soul. And if it regains its original strength through repentance, let it be called the dwelling place of the Holy One, and let it become the temple of God, and by no means let the uncircumcised and unclean reasoning pass through it. Of these it was said: Cleanse me from my hidden sins, O Lord, and spare your servant from alien sins. If I am not dominated by them, then I will be blameless and cleansed from great offense (Ps. XVIII, 13, 14). But all the things that are promised to Zion and Jerusalem, are not as the Jews dream, referring to its stones and ashes and embers, so that it may be restored to its former state, but to the people of Jerusalem, who killed the Prophets and stoned those who were sent to them (Matt. XXIII), and finally even laid their hands on the Son of God. He who falls in the passion of Christ is raised in his resurrection: when many thousands believed of the Jews, and the remnants were saved. The same can be said of the Church, which is the vision of peace and a mirror; if it falls into heresy, it is commanded to depart and to receive the ornaments of the ancient faith. And if it is raised up, the rewards of holiness and continence are promised to it, so that no uncircumcised and unclean person may pass through it. This can be referred not to the circumcision of the flesh and the foreskin, but to the impurity or purity of works, so that we may call the uncircumcised and impure those who serve the pleasure of the body and lust. In fact, Jeremiah speaks not of circumcision of the flesh, but of the spirit: All the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but the children of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts (Jeremiah 9:26). And the blessed Apostle, in discussing virginity, continence, and marriage, made this statement: Someone who is called circumcised should not let his foreskin be brought forward. He who is called in uncircumcision, let him not be circumcised (I Cor. VII, 18). Which seems to me to say in other words: He who is called without a wife, and believes, let him not take a wife. Or conversely: having a wife, he has believed in Christ, let him by no means divorce her. This meaning, not only in circumcision and in uncircumcision, but also in freedom and slavery, he keeps, calling the unmarried and the continent free, and the slaves who render the debt to their wives. For it is not in our power to bring forth a foreskin after circumcision, as those who are said to have made foreskins for themselves in the book of Maccabees, which is said to apply to newborn sons and not to fathers. Or, as the book called, is more of a servant of Christ (Ibid., VII, 22), since in the baptism of Christ there is no difference between Jew, Gentile, Greek, and Barbarian, male and female, free and slave.

He calls the holy city “the church.” It is sanctified not by the prescribed cultic system, for the law never perfected anyone, but it is made in the likeness of Christ and participates in his divine nature, according to the communication of the Holy Spirit, in whom we are sealed for the day of redemption, with all vileness washed and removed.… We have been justified by faith in him, who reinforces us in all safety and shelters us in his love from every fierce attack of the devil and wild surges of enemy opposition. And so he teaches us when he says “to Zion or Jerusalem, that is, the church of the living God.”

He calls the lower city “Jerusalem,” and the city on high “Zion,” but both together are one city. This is why he promises restoration to both; and, since foreign nations crossed through it without fear when its inhabitants had been taken captive, he is promising deliverance from these foreigners.… It is due to their sins that they have been sold, but it is by the benevolence of God that they have obtained deliverance.

Arise, arise. Here he excludes the third impediment to their liberation, which could be doubted from their poverty of goods, promising them gratuitous liberation. And this is divided into two parts: for first, he foretells the liberation of the Jews from the Babylonians; second, the liberation of the gentiles from their sins: behold my servant shall understand (Isa 52:13). Concerning the first, he does two things: first, he foretells the liberation; second, the order of liberation: the Lord has prepared (Isa 52:10). Concerning the first, he does three things: first, he promises gratuitous liberation; second, he assigns the cause of liberation: for thus says the Lord God (Isa 52:4); third, he proclaims joy to the liberated: how beautiful (Isa 52:7). Liberation is promised to them in three ways. First, from the oppression of their enemies as to the goods which they regained: arise, from the weakness through which you were not able to resist your enemies, and therefore, he says: put on your strength, like arms of war, O Zion, on which was the stronghold for the defense of the city; arise, from the misery which you incurred, when your enemies despoiled you, and therefore he says: put on the garments of your glory. The glory of a city is the crowds of its citizens, the beauty of its streets, the riches of its goods: put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of your mourning, and affliction: and put on the beauty, and honor of that everlasting glory which you have from God (Bar 5:1). And as to the enemies which they escaped: for henceforth shall no more pass through you, as ravagers and rulers, the uncircumcised, as to gentile enemies, and unclean, as to traitors from their own people, above: it shall be called the holy way (Isa 35:8); there shall not enter into it any thing defiled (Rev 21:27). Note on the words, put on the garments (Isa 52:1), that the saints have garments of virtues in which they glory: and these are, first, for protection, below: the Lord has clothed me with the garments of salvation: and with the robe of justice he has covered me (Isa 61:10); second, for keeping warm: she shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow: for all her domestics are clothed with double garments (Prov 31:21); third, for ornament: that you may be clothed in white garments (Rev 3:18). These garments ought to be, first, white in honesty of work: at all times let your garments be white (Eccl 9:8); second, clean in rectitude of intention, above: every garment mingled with blood, shall be burnt (Isa 9:5); third, fragrant through the spreading of reputation: the smell of your garments, as the smell of frankincense (Song 4:11).

This chapter was added after Jeremiah's time probably by Ezra, after the return from the captivity, of which it gives a short account, nearly the same as in Kg2 24:18-20, and Kg2 24:18-20. It is very properly subjoined to the preceding prophecies, in order to show how exactly they were fulfilled. It likewise forms a proper introduction to the following Lamentations, as it gives an account of the mournful events which gave rise to them. Zedekiah's evil reign and rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 52:1-3. Jerusalem is taken by the Chaldeans after a siege of eighteen months, Jer 52:4-7. Zedekiah pursued and taken in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army dispersed, Jer 52:8, Jer 52:9. The king's sons and all the princes of Judah slain in Riblah, Jer 52:10. Zedekiah has his eyes put out by order of the Chaldean monarch; and is afterward bound in chains, carried to Babylon, and imprisoned for life, Jer 52:11. Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, burns and spoils the city and temple, Jer 52:12-19. The two pillars of the temple, with their dimensions and ornaments, Jer 52:20-23. The officers of the temple, and several others, carried away captives into Babylon, and then slain by order of Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 52:24-27. The number of Jews that Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive in the seventh year of his reign, Jer 52:28; in his eighteenth year, Jer 52:29; and in his twenty-third year, Jer 52:30. Evil-merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, in the year of his accession to the throne of Babylon, (which was in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity, and the one hundred and ninety-first from the building of Rome, according to the computation of Varro), orders Jehoiachin to be taken out of prison, and treats him kindly for the remainder of his life, Jer 52:31-34.

There shall no more come into thee - For יבא yabo, "shall come," לבא lebo, "to come," is the reading of five of Kennicott's and two of De Rossi's MSS. This is the better reading, כי לא יוסיף לבא ki lo yosiph lebo, "There shall not add to come." The uncircumcised and the unclean - Christians have turned many passages of the prophets against the Jews; and it is not to be wondered at, that in support of their obstinate and hopeless cause, they should press a prophecy into their service, and make it speak against the Christians. This Kimchi does in this place; for he says, by the uncircumcised, the Christians are meant; and by the unclean the Turks. The Christians are uncircumcised and the Turks, though circumcised, and using many ablutions, are unclean in their works.

FIRST THROUGH THIRTEEN VERSES CONNECTED WITH FIFTY-FIRST CHAPTER. (Isa. 52:1-15) strength--as thy adornment; answering to "beautiful garments" in the parallel clause. Arouse thyself from dejection and assume confidence. the holy city-- (Neh 11:1; Rev 21:2). no more . . . unclean-- (Isa 35:8; Isa 60:21; Joe 3:17; Rev 21:27). A prophecy never yet fulfilled. uncircumcised--spiritually (Eze 44:9; Act 7:51).

The same call, which was addressed in Isa 51:9 to the arm of Jehovah that was then represented as sleeping, is here addressed to Jerusalem, which is represented as a sleeping woman. "Awake, awake; clothe thyself in thy might, O Zion; clothe thyself in thy state dresses, O Jerusalem, thou holy city: for henceforth there will no more enter into thee one uncircumcised and unclean! Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the chains of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion!" Jerusalem is lying upon the ground stupefied with the wrath of God, and exhausted with grief; but this shameful prostration and degradation will now come to an end. She is to rise up and put on her might, which has long been broken down, and apparently has altogether disappeared, but which can and must be constantly renewed, because it rests upon the foundation of an inviolable promise. She is to wake up and recover her ancient power, and put on her state robes, i.e., her priestly and royal ornaments, which belong to her as a "royal city," i.e., as the city of Jehovah had His anointed one. For henceforth she will be what she was always intended to be, and that without any further desecration. Heathen, uncircumcised, and those who were unclean in heart and flesh (Eze 44:9), had entered her by force, and desecrated her: heathen, who had no right to enter the congregation of Jehovah as they were (Lam 1:10). But she should no longer be defiled, not to say conquered, by such invaders as these (Joe 3:17; Nah 2:1; compare Joe 3:7 with Nah 2:1). On the construction non perget intrabit = intrare, see Ges. 142, 3, c. In Isa 52:2 the idea of the city falls into the background, and that of the nation takes its place. ירולשׁם שׁבי does not mean "captive people of Jerusalem," however, as Hitzig supposes, for this would require שׁביה in accordance with the personification, as in Isa 52:2. The rendering supported by the lxx is the true one, "Sit down, O Jerusalem;" and this is also the way in which it is accentuated. The exhortation is the counterpart of Isa 47:1. Jerusalem is sitting upon the ground as a prisoner, having no seat to sit upon; but this is only that she may be the more highly exalted; - whereas the daughter of Babylon is seated as a queen upon a throne, but only to be the more deeply degraded. The former is now to shake herself free from the dust, and to rise up and sit down (viz., upon a throne, Targum). The captive daughter of Zion (shebhiyyâh, αἰχμάλωτος, Exo 12:29, an adjective written first for the sake of emphasis, as in Isa 10:30; Isa 53:11) is to undo for herself (sibi laxare according to p. 62, note, like hithnachēl, Isa 14:2, sibi possidendo capere) the chains of her neck (the chethib התפתחו, they loosen themselves, is opposed to the beautiful parallelism); for she who was mourning in her humiliation is to be restored to honour once more, and she who was so shamefully laden with fetters to liberty.