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Easter Season · Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary · Year B

Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

Springs of Salvation, Wells of Joy

May 31, 2027

Rebecca and Eliezer, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Rebecca and Eliezer, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1650Museo del Prado, Madrid
The servant has come a long way to find a wife for Isaac and asks a stranger for water; Murillo paints the ordinary courtesy that turns out to be the answer to a prayer.With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation, and here is the well, and the drawing, and the joy of it.Bartolomé Esteban MurilloSeville's leading painter (1617-1682), known for a warm, soft handling that made his religious pictures the most copied in Spain for two centuries.Museo del Prado, MadridSpain's national collection, formed from what the Spanish crown had bought over three centuries, which is why its Titians and Rubenses are unmatched.Museo del Prado, Madrid
Roman Lectionary
GospelLuke 1:39-56Lk 1:39-56
Second ReadingRom. 12:9-16bRom 12:9-16b
First ReadingZeph. 3:14-18aZep 3:14-18a
Responsorial PsalmIsa. 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6Is 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

Overview & Insights

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid.” (Isaiah 12:2)

This short song closes the section that opened with the Immanuel sign (chapters 7 to 12) and functions as its doxology, the response of a people brought through judgment. Its first line is borrowed: the Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation, comes almost word for word from the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:2), so deliverance is sung in the vocabulary of the exodus. The wells of verse 3 are the one image not found in that older song, and the drawing of water became the great rite of Tabernacles in the second temple period, which is the background usually proposed for Jesus’ cry at John 7:37-38. Used here as the responsorial psalm, the song puts Miriam’s music in Mary’s mouth, and verse 6 names the reason, the Holy One of Israel in the midst of the city.

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Take it further: Isaiah 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

Commentary

Commentary on Isaiah 12:2-6Commentary on Is 12:2-6 Working Preacher

Lectionary commentary on why the exiles, and we, sing this canticle of trust.

Isaiah 12 CommentaryIs 12 Commentary Enduring Word

Verse-by-verse commentary on drawing water joyfully from the wells of salvation.

Background & Word Study

Commentary on Isaiah 12 by Matthew HenryCommentary on Is 12 by Mt Henry Blue Letter Bible

Classic exposition for background reading on this song of thanksgiving.

Isaiah 12 parallel commentariesIs 12 parallel commentaries BibleHub

Aggregated interlinear and commentary tools for word-level study of the chapter.

Isaiah 12Is 12 Sefaria

Hebrew text with classical Jewish commentary on this canticle.

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