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Christmas Season · Nativity of the Lord - Christmas Vigil · Year B

Isaiah 62:1-5

Zion’s New Name

December 24, 2026

The Russian Bride's Attire, Konstantin Makovsky
The Russian Bride's Attire, Konstantin Makovsky, 1889Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
A large, deliberately theatrical reconstruction of a seventeenth-century Russian wedding preparation, painted for an American buyer. Makovsky collected the costumes and furnishings himself and dressed the scene from his own hoard.Isaiah 62 ends with God rejoicing over his people as a bridegroom over a bride, and this is the hour before a wedding rather than the wedding itself.Konstantin MakovskyA Russian painter who broke with the academy, grew rich on society portraits, and spent the money on historical costume he then painted.Fine Arts Museums of San FranciscoThe city's two museums, the de Young and the Legion of Honor, holding American and European painting respectively.Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Roman Lectionary
GospelMatt. 1:1-25Mt 1:1-25 orMatt. 1:18-25Mt 1:18-25
Second ReadingActs 13:16-17, 22-25
First ReadingIsa. 62:1-5Is 62:1-5
Responsorial PsalmPs. 89:4-5, 16-17, 27+29 (2a)Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27+29 (2a)

Overview & Insights

“You shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.” (Isaiah 62:2)

Chapters 61 and 62 recapitulate much of chapter 60, but they do so in a new framework. They offer five responses to those promises. Whereas the prophet’s word was a brisk preliminary to Yahweh’s word in 59:21–60:22, in chapters 61–62 the prophet speaks a number of times in a way that has significance in its own right but also introduces recapitulations of the promises.

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Commentary

Commentary on Isaiah 62:1-5Commentary on Is 62:1-5 Working Preacher

Luther Seminary reading of God ending the silence and rejoicing over Zion like a bridegroom.

Isaiah 62:1-5 CommentaryIs 62:1-5 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Reformed preaching commentary on the marriage imagery and the vindication of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 62 Commentary: A Glorious Future for ZionIs 62 Commentary: A Glorious Future for Zion Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse by verse notes on Zion's new name and God's delight in her.

Isaiah 62:1 CommentariesIs 62:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentators compiled on God's refusal to keep silent for Zion's sake.

Background & Word Study

Isaiah 62:1 InterlinearIs 62:1 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew text of the Zion oracle word by word with parsing and Strong's numbers.

Isaiah 62 | Sefaria LibraryIs 62 | Sefaria Library Sefaria

Hebrew and English text of Isaiah 62 with classical Jewish commentaries.

The Church Fathers

Isaiah 62 - Catena Bible & CommentariesIs 62 - Catena Bible & Commentaries Catena

Patristic comments on Zion's glory, read as the Church and the incarnation.

Questions preachers ask

What is Zion's new name in Isaiah 62?

No longer Forsaken or Desolate, Zion is called My Delight and Married; God rejoices over his people as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride.

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