Three calls to listen (vv.1, 4, 7) structure the first half of this chapter, summoning those who pursue righteousness to remember Abraham and Sarah, to receive God's Torah-light to the nations, and to fear God rather than mortals. The chapter's second half turns to the arm of the LORD — summoned to awake as in the days of old when it split Rahab and dried the sea. God then identifies Himself as the sole comforter of Israel and announces the transfer of the cup of wrath from Jerusalem to her oppressors.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The appeal to look to the rock from which you were hewn (v.1) and to Abraham and Sarah (v.2) is unique in the prophets — grounding future hope in ancestral memory. The Rahab/dragon mythology in verses 9-10 is striking: Isaiah appropriates ancient Near Eastern combat myth (God defeating the sea monster) and historicizes it as the Exodus, then projects it forward as future redemption.
Translation Friction
The identity of the speaker shifts frequently: God speaks (vv.1-8), the prophet calls upon God's arm (vv.9-11), God responds in first person (vv.12-16), and then addresses Jerusalem directly (vv.17-23). We have preserved these shifts rather than harmonizing them. The mythological language of Rahab and tannin (dragon/sea monster) in verse 9 reflects genuine ancient Israelite engagement with broader Near Eastern cosmology.
Connections
The arm of the LORD (vv.5, 9) becomes the central image of 52:10 and 53:1. The cup of wrath (vv.17, 22) connects to Jeremiah 25:15-29 and Revelation 14:10. The Eden/garden imagery (v.3) echoes Genesis 2 and anticipates Isaiah 55:12-13. The ransomed returning to Zion (v.11) is virtually identical to 35:10.
Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the LORD:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
KJV Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The opening summons addresses the faithful remnant. The rock (tsur) from which they were hewn is identified in the next verse as Abraham — Israel's ancestral bedrock. The quarry metaphor emphasizes that God shapes His people from raw material, as a mason carves stone.
Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
but I blessed him and made him many.
KJV Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Both Abraham and Sarah are named — a rare dual invocation of the patriarchal and matriarchal ancestors. The word echad (one/alone) stresses the miracle: from a single, childless man God produced a nation. The implicit argument: if God could multiply one into many then, He can restore the remnant now.
For the LORD comforts Zion;
He comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness shall be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of song.
KJV For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The double use of nicham (comfort) echoes the opening command of Isaiah 40:1. Zion's ruins are transformed into Eden itself — not merely repaired but returned to primordial perfection. The four words of celebration (joy, gladness, thanksgiving, song) overflow the poetic line.
Give heed to me, my people,
and listen to me, my nation;
for a law will go out from me,
and I will set my justice
as a light to the peoples.
KJV Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The second listen summons. Torah here means not merely the Mosaic law but God's instruction/teaching that will illumine the nations — anticipating the universal scope of 52:15.
My righteousness draws near;
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples.
The coastlands wait for me,
and for my arm they hope.
KJV My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The arm (zeroa) of the LORD becomes a major theme through chapter 53. The coastlands (iyyim) waiting for God's arm connects to the Servant as a light to the nations (49:6). God's saving power and justice are presented as two aspects of the same action.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and those who dwell on it will die in like manner.
But my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be broken.
KJV Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The created order itself is transient — heavens and earth will pass away — but God's salvation endures. This radical statement about cosmic impermanence is cited in Hebrews 1:10-12 and echoed by Jesus in Mark 13:31.
Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my law:
do not fear the reproach of mortals,
and do not be dismayed at their revilings.
KJV Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The third listen summons. My law in their heart anticipates Jeremiah's new covenant promise (Jeremiah 31:33). The command not to fear human reproach echoes the Servant's own resolve in 50:7-8.
For the moth will eat them like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.
KJV For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Echoing 50:9, the moth-eaten garment imagery contrasts human hostility (which disintegrates) with divine righteousness (which endures). The phrase ledor dorim (to generation of generations) means without end.
Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD!
Awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago!
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
KJV Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
Rahab is the primordial sea monster of chaos, not the woman of Jericho. The name represents cosmic opposition to God's order. Here the prophet calls on God's arm to act as it did when it 'cut Rahab to pieces' — a reference to both creation mythology and the Exodus (the sea as chaos defeated).
Translator Notes
The prophet calls upon God's arm to awaken as it did at the Exodus. Rahab and tannin (dragon/sea monster) are figures from ancient Near Eastern mythology that Isaiah historicizes — the mythic battle against chaos is identified with the concrete act of the Red Sea crossing (v.10). This is not polytheism but poetic appropriation.
Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a road
for the redeemed to pass over?
KJV Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The mythological Rahab of verse 9 is now clearly identified with the historical event: the drying of the sea (yam) at the Exodus. The word ge'ulim (redeemed/ransomed) uses the go'el root — God as kinsman-redeemer, buying His people back from bondage.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.
They shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
KJV Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This verse is nearly identical to Isaiah 35:10, forming a deliberate echo across the book. The ransomed of the LORD (peduyei YHWH) are those redeemed from exile, their return to Zion depicted as a joyous procession with joy literally crowning their heads.
I, I am He who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass?
KJV I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The double anokhi (I, I) is intensely emphatic — God Himself enters the conversation to rebuke Zion's fear of mortals. The contrast between the eternal God and mortal man (enosh — a word emphasizing human frailty) and grass (chatsir, cf. Isaiah 40:6-8) could not be sharper.
You have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy.
But where is the wrath of the oppressor?
KJV And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The rhetorical question Where is the wrath of the oppressor? implies it has vanished — the one who seemed omnipotent has dissolved. God as Creator (stretching heavens, laying earth's foundations) dwarfs any human tyrant.
He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die in the pit,
nor shall his bread be lacking.
KJV The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The tso'eh (one bowed down/captive) will be freed quickly. The three negatives (shall not die, shall not lack bread) form a comprehensive promise of liberation and provision.
For I am the LORD your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar —
the LORD of hosts is His name.
KJV But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
God reasserts His identity as the one who commands the sea — the same power invoked in verse 10. The LORD of hosts (YHWH tseva'ot) is a military title: commander of all heavenly and earthly armies.
I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
planting the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, You are my people.
KJV And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The language of planting heavens and founding earth suggests that God's address to Zion is itself a creative act — the restoration of Israel is presented as a new creation, parallel to Genesis 1. The phrase You are my people (ammi-attah) echoes the covenant formula of Hosea 2:23.
Rouse yourself, rouse yourself!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD
the cup of His wrath —
the bowl of the cup of staggering
you have drunk; you have drained it.
KJV Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
כּוֹס חֲמָתוֹkos chamato
"the cup of His wrath"—cup of wrath, cup of staggering, goblet of fury
The kos chamat YHWH ('cup of the LORD's wrath') is a prophetic metaphor for divine judgment experienced as forced intoxication — the nations drink and stagger. Jerusalem has drained this cup (v. 17); now it will be transferred to her oppressors (v. 22-23). The image recurs in Jeremiah 25:15-28 and Revelation 14:10.
Translator Notes
The double imperative hit'or'ri (rouse yourself!) echoes the awake, awake addressed to God's arm in verse 9 — now Jerusalem herself must arise. The cup of wrath is a major prophetic motif: Jerusalem has drunk it completely (shathit, matsit — drunk and drained to the dregs).
There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has borne;
there is no one to take her by the hand
among all the children she has raised.
KJV There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jerusalem, personified as a staggering, intoxicated mother, has no child to steady her — the desolation is complete. The pathos deepens: she bore and raised children, yet none remains to support her in her hour of need.
These two things have befallen you —
who will grieve for you? —
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword —
who can comfort you?
KJV These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The two things are elaborated as two pairs: devastation and destruction (external calamity), famine and sword (their human toll). The question who can comfort you? is rhetorical — only God can, as He declared in verse 12.
Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net,
full of the wrath of the LORD,
the rebuke of your God.
KJV Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The image of Jerusalem's children collapsed at every intersection, trapped like a wild antelope (to) in a hunter's net, is among the most harrowing in Isaiah. They are full of God's wrath as one is full of drink — the cup metaphor continues.
Therefore hear this, you afflicted one,
drunk, but not with wine:
KJV Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Jerusalem is drunk — but not from wine. She staggers from the cup of divine wrath. This phrase connects to Isaiah 29:9 and anticipates the reversal that follows.
This is what your Lord says, the LORD,
your God who pleads the cause of His people:
Behold, I have taken from your hand
the cup of staggering —
the bowl of the cup of my wrath.
You shall drink of it no more.
KJV Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The turning point: God removes the cup of wrath from Jerusalem's hand. The title sequence is dense — adonayikh YHWH, ve'elohayikh (your Lord, the LORD, your God) — piling up divine names to underscore the authority behind the promise.
And I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who said to you,
Bow down, that we may walk over you.
And you made your back like the ground,
like a street for them to walk on.
KJV But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The cup of wrath is transferred to Israel's oppressors. The image of people forced to lie face-down while conquerors walk over their backs is attested in ancient Near Eastern victory reliefs — a practice of literal humiliation now reversed.