Isaiah 60:1-6

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1)

In the two great central sections of chapters 56–66 (59:21–60:22 and 61:1–62:12), Yahweh addresses both the prophet and the city. In the first section, the address to the prophet comes in 59:21, while the address to the city occupies the whole of chapter 60. Admittedly Zion/Jerusalem is not named until 60:14, but the verb arise (60:1) repeats the exhortation to Jerusalem in 51:17 (NIV “rise up”) and the verbs are feminine singular, which makes it clear enough that the prophet speaks to the city (cf. 59:20). The prophet takes up the exhortation and the promises in chapters 49–54 and once again re-expresses them in yet more glorious technicolor for people who evidently are back in Jerusalem but have not seen those promises fulfilled in their glory. They thus presuppose a similar situation to the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah.

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