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Christmas · The Nativity of Our Lord (Christmas Day) · Year B

Isaiah 52:7-10

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, Charles-Théodore Frère
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, Charles-Théodore Frère, by 1880The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Travellers have pitched their tents and couched their camels on the slope of the Mount of Olives, and across the valley the walled city of Jerusalem lies white in the sun.How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace. Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.Charles-Théodore FrèreA Parisian painter who travelled through Egypt and the Holy Land and spent his career painting its caravans and cities.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, which makes its public-domain pictures free for anyone to use.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Overview & Insights

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.” (Isaiah 52:7)

In 50:4 the subject suddenly changes again—in two senses. The grammatical subject is once again a human “I” rather than a divine “I,” and the thematic subject is the pressure upon this human “I.” In both respects the passage parallels 49:1–6, and it will emerge that 50:4–52:12 forms a sequence parallel to 49:1–50:4, analogous to double sequences we have noted earlier in chapters 40–55. The arrangement of sections is not as tightly parallel as in earlier instances, but the parallelism again means that the second sequence develops issues raised in the first. Here, as there, that involves discussion of the role of Yahweh’s servant (50:4–11 as 49:1–6), but here the destiny of Zion and the way the destiny of the Babylonian community relates to it (51:1–52:12 as 49:7–50:3) receive more attention.

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Take it further: Isaiah 52:7-10

Commentary

Background & Word Study

The Church Fathers

Questions preachers ask

What good news does Isaiah 52 proclaim?

The watchmen sing as the Lord returns to Zion and comforts his people; every end of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

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