Isaiah / Chapter 12

Isaiah 12

6 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

A short psalm of thanksgiving closes the first major section of Isaiah. The redeemed remnant sings two songs: the first confesses that God's anger has turned to comfort, the second calls the nations to witness what the Holy One of Israel has done. Water, song, and proclamation replace the fire, judgment, and silence of the preceding chapters.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

This chapter functions as the doxological conclusion to Isaiah 1-12, much as the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15) concluded the exodus narrative. After eleven chapters of oracles — judgment on Israel, judgment on the nations, messianic promise, remnant theology, the peaceable kingdom — the response is not theology but song. The shift from third-person prophecy to first-person praise ('I will trust,' 'I will give thanks,' 'the LORD is my strength') places the reader inside the redeemed community. We are no longer hearing about salvation; we are singing it. The phrase 'Draw water from the wells of salvation' (v. 3) is one of the most beloved lines in Jewish liturgy, chanted during Sukkot water-drawing ceremonies and at the conclusion of Shabbat (Havdalah). Its placement here — after the fire of chapters 9-10 and the paradise of chapter 11 — makes it a climactic image: what was consumed by fire is now irrigated by salvation.

Translation Friction

The chapter's brevity (six verses) belies its density. The phrase ki yashir YHWH ('for the LORD has done gloriously,' v. 5) compresses an entire theology of divine action into three words. The verb zimrat in verse 2 can mean either 'song' or 'strength' (or both simultaneously) — the ambiguity is likely intentional, as the parallel with oz ('strength') suggests a hendiadys: 'my strength and my song.' This same phrase appears in Exodus 15:2 and Psalm 118:14, creating a three-text echo that is impossible to reproduce in English without a note. The imperative verbs in verses 4-5 shift from singular (addressing the individual) to plural (addressing the community), but English 'you' obscures this transition.

Connections

The phrase 'the LORD is my strength and my song' (ozi vezimrat Yah, v. 2) quotes Exodus 15:2 verbatim — the Song of the Sea that Moses and Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea. By placing this exodus quotation here, Isaiah casts the entire messianic deliverance of chapters 7-11 as a new exodus. The 'wells of salvation' (ma'ayanei ha-yeshu'ah, v. 3) connect to the water imagery throughout Isaiah (8:6, the gentle waters of Shiloah that Israel rejected; 35:6-7, streams in the desert; 55:1, 'Come, all who are thirsty'). The command to 'make known his deeds among the peoples' (v. 4) anticipates the servant's mission to the nations in Isaiah 42:1-4 and 49:6. The final phrase 'the Holy One of Israel' (qedosh Yisra'el) in verse 6 bookends the section that opened with Isaiah's vision of the thrice-holy God in chapter 6 — the holiness that terrified Isaiah in the temple now dwells 'in your midst' as cause for rejoicing.

Isaiah 12:1

וְאָמַרְתָּ֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא אוֹדְךָ֣ יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י אָנַ֖פְתָּ בִּ֑י יָשֹׁ֥ב אַפְּךָ֖ וּתְנַחֲמֵֽנִי׃

On that day you will say: "I give thanks to you, LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me."

KJV And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

נָחַם nacham
"comforted" — to comfort, to console, to be sorry, to relent, to have compassion; to ease grief

Nacham is comfort that presupposes suffering — not prevention of pain but presence through and after it. This verb will define the entire second half of Isaiah: 'Comfort, comfort my people' (40:1).

Translator Notes

  1. The first song begins with thanksgiving that names both the anger and its cessation. The speaker does not pretend the judgment never happened — ki anafta bi ('for you were angry with me') is a frank acknowledgment. But the verb yashuv ('has turned away, has returned') — the same root as shuv ('repent, turn') that Israel refused to do in 9:13 — now describes God's own turning. God's anger turns because of his own faithfulness, not because Israel finally repented well enough.
  2. The verb tenachameni ('you comfort me') carries the full weight of nacham — comfort that follows real grief, consolation after genuine suffering. It is the same root as the name 'Nehemiah' (YHWH comforts) and will become a programmatic verb in Isaiah 40:1 ('Comfort, comfort my people').
Isaiah 12:2

הִנֵּ֨ה אֵ֧ל יְשׁוּעָתִ֛י אֶבְטַ֖ח וְלֹ֣א אֶפְחָ֑ד כִּֽי־עׇזִּ֤י וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֣הּ יְהוָ֔ה וַיְהִי־לִ֖י לִישׁוּעָֽה׃

"Look — God is my salvation! I will trust and will not be afraid, for the LORD God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."

KJV Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

יְשׁוּעָה yeshu'ah
"salvation" — salvation, deliverance, rescue, victory, help; the act of being saved from danger or oppression

From the root y-sh-', meaning 'to save, to deliver.' This is the root of the names Joshua and Jesus. Its double occurrence in this verse frames the entire confession: God is salvation in his nature, and he enacts salvation in history.

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase ozzi vezimrat Yah YHWH ('my strength and my song is the LORD God') directly quotes Exodus 15:2 — Moses' song after the Red Sea crossing. Isaiah places the exodus song in the mouth of the future redeemed community, declaring that the new deliverance is continuous with the old. The same God who split the sea is the God who comforts after exile.
  2. The word yeshu'ah ('salvation') appears twice — at the beginning ('God is my salvation') and at the end ('he has become my salvation'). This framing makes salvation both the source (God's nature) and the experience (God's action). The name Yeshua (Jesus) derives from this root.
  3. Zimrat can mean either 'song' or 'strength/protection' — the dual meaning may be intentional, creating a hendiadys: God is both the power that saves and the song that celebrates the saving. English must choose one; we choose 'song' because the parallel with oz ('strength') already covers the power dimension.
Isaiah 12:3

וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם־מַ֖יִם בְּשָׂשׂ֑וֹן מִמַּעַיְנֵ֖י הַיְשׁוּעָֽה׃

You will draw water with joy from the wells of salvation.

KJV Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

מַעְיָן ma'ayan
"wells" — spring, fountain, well; underground water source that surfaces naturally

A ma'ayan is specifically a natural spring — water that comes up from below, not collected rainwater. Salvation is not a cistern (human-made storage) but a spring (divinely sourced, continuously flowing, inexhaustible).

Translator Notes

  1. This verse shifts from singular 'you' (v. 1) to plural — the individual confession becomes communal celebration. The verb sha'av ('to draw water') is the ordinary, daily-life word for drawing water from a well. Salvation is compared not to a dramatic miracle but to the most routine domestic act — going to the well. The extraordinary becomes the ordinary rhythm of life in the redeemed community.
  2. The phrase ma'ayanei ha-yeshu'ah ('wells/springs of salvation') was chanted during the Simchat Beit ha-Sho'evah, the water-drawing celebration during Sukkot at the Second Temple. Jesus likely alluded to this verse when he stood in the temple during Sukkot and cried, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink' (John 7:37-38).
  3. After the fire imagery that dominated chapters 9-10 (fire of wickedness, fire of wrath, burning of thorns and briars), water appears as the counter-image. What fire consumed, water restores.
Isaiah 12:4

וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֞ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא הוֹד֤וּ לַיהוָה֙ קִרְא֣וּ בִשְׁמ֔וֹ הוֹדִ֥יעוּ בָעַמִּ֖ים עֲלִילֹתָ֑יו הַזְכִּ֕ירוּ כִּ֥י נִשְׂגָּ֖ב שְׁמֽוֹ׃

On that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD! Call on his name! Make his deeds known among the peoples! Proclaim that his name is exalted!"

KJV And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The second song begins with four imperatives in rapid succession: hodu ('give thanks'), qir'u ('call, proclaim'), hodi'u ('make known'), hazkiru ('declare, cause to remember'). The direction shifts outward — from personal confession (vv. 1-2) to public proclamation among the nations (ba-ammim, 'among the peoples'). Salvation is not private; it demands witness.
  2. The phrase alilotav ('his deeds, his acts') carries the sense of God's mighty historical actions — the same word used for the acts of the exodus and conquest. The new salvation generates new testimony.
Isaiah 12:5

זַמְּר֣וּ יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י גֵא֖וּת עָשָׂ֑ה מוּדַ֥עַת זֹ֖את בְּכׇל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

"Sing to the LORD, for he has done gloriously! Let this be made known in all the earth!"

KJV Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb zammeru ('sing, make music') calls for artistic, musical celebration — not mere speech but song. The reason: ki ge'ut asah ('for he has done gloriously/majestically'). Ge'ut is related to ga'ah ('to rise, to be exalted') — God's deeds are characterized by rising splendor, by a quality that lifts and exalts.
  2. The final phrase muda'at zot bekhol-ha-arets ('let this be known in all the earth') pushes the scope to global proclamation. What God has done for Israel is not Israel's private possession but news for the whole earth.
Isaiah 12:6

צַהֲלִ֥י וָרֹ֖נִּי יוֹשֶׁ֣בֶת צִיּ֑וֹן כִּֽי־גָד֥וֹל בְּקִרְבֵּ֖ךְ קְד֥וֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

"Shout aloud and sing for joy, inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel!"

KJV Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל qedosh Yisra'el
"the Holy One of Israel" — the Holy One of Israel; God in his transcendent otherness bound to a particular people

Isaiah's signature divine title, here in the climactic final position of the section. The Holy One who was 'high and lifted up' in 6:1 is now 'in your midst' in 12:6 — the same holiness, but now dwelling with a redeemed people rather than overwhelming a sinful one.

Translator Notes

  1. The chapter and the entire first section of Isaiah (chs. 1-12) conclude with the Holy One of Israel dwelling in Zion's midst. In chapter 6, Isaiah encountered the Holy One in the temple and was undone; here the same holiness generates unrestrained joy. The difference is not that God has become less holy but that the people have been purified through judgment — the remnant that survives can now bear the presence that once destroyed.
  2. The verb tsahali ('shout, shriek') appeared in 10:30 as a cry of terror before the invading army. Here the same verb carries the opposite emotion — the sound that expressed panic at Assyria's approach now expresses ecstasy at God's presence. Isaiah recycles the vocabulary of judgment into the vocabulary of praise.
  3. Yoshevet Tsiyyon ('inhabitant of Zion') is feminine singular, personifying Zion as a woman — a 'daughter Zion' figure who will become increasingly important in later chapters (37:22, 52:1-2, 54:1). The intimacy of the address — singular 'you,' not plural — makes the closing verse intensely personal even as it speaks to the entire community.
  4. The phrase beqirbekh ('in your midst, within you') places the Holy One not above or beyond Zion but inside it — an indwelling presence. The holiness that could not be approached in chapter 6 now lives at the center of the community. This is the trajectory of the entire section: from unapproachable holiness to indwelling glory.
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