Isaiah 62 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Addressed to the years around 540 to 500 BC, the exile's end and the early restoration under Persian rule
Location
Jerusalem, still walled only in ruins, in the small province the Persians called Yehud
Audience
Judean Jews rebuilding a city that outsiders considered abandoned and insignificant
Situation
The prophet vows not to keep silent until Jerusalem's vindication blazes out, and describes the city receiving new names that cancel its reputation as forsaken. Watchmen are posted to keep reminding God of his promise, and a highway is prepared for the returning people.
Key Background
Renaming carried real weight in the ancient world, where a name stated a person's or a place's status, and a change of name after a change of fortune was a formal public act, so the swap from Deserted and Desolate to My Delight Is In Her and Married announces a legal change of standing. The marriage imagery draws on ordinary Judean wedding practice, in which a bride was crowned and a bridegroom rejoiced publicly, and where a woman without a husband had no economic protection, which is the condition the ruined city is pictured escaping. Watchmen on the walls were the night sentries of a fortified city calling out the hours, and turning them into people who pester God without pause is a deliberate reuse of a familiar military role.
For Zion's sake I will not stay silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest — not until her blazes like the dawn and her burns like a torch in the night.
The nations will see your vindication, every king will witness your — and you will be called by a new name, one that Yahweh himself will speak over you.
You will be a of in Yahweh's hand, a held high by your God.
No one will call you anymore, no one will say your land is 'Desolate.' Instead, you'll be called 'My Is in Her' and your land — because Yahweh delights in you, and your land will be wed again.
Like a young man marries a young woman, your will marry you. Like a groom's joy over his bride, your God will over you.
On your walls, Jerusalem, I have stationed — all day and all night, without stopping, they will never be silent. You who call on Yahweh, give yourselves no rest.
And give him no rest either — not until he establishes Jerusalem, not until he makes her the of the whole earth.
Yahweh has by his hand, by his mighty arm: 'Never again will I over your grain to your enemies. Never again will foreigners drink the wine you worked so hard for.'
No, those who harvest the grain will eat it and praise Yahweh. Those who gather the grapes will drink the wine in the that to me.
Go through, go through the gates! Clear the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Clear away the stones. Raise a for the nations.
Look — Yahweh has made an announcement to the ends of the earth: Tell Zion, 'Look! Your is coming! His reward is with him, and his recompense goes ahead of him.'
And they will call them 'The Who to God,' 'The Rescued.' And you will be called After,' 'A City Never Abandoned Again.'