Isaiah 52:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
to wake (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
awake
עוּרִ֛י'u.Ri
H5782
to wake (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
on
לִבְשִׁ֥יliv.Shi
H3847
properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
strength
עֻזֵּ֖ךְ'u.Zekh
H5797
strength in various applications (force · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
Zion
צִיּ֑וֹןtzi.Yon
H6726
Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · proper noun, a place name
on
לִבְשִׁ֣יliv.Shi
H3847
properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
beautiful
תִפְאַרְתֵּ֗ךְtif.'ar.Tekh
H8597
ornament (abstractly or concretely · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
garments
בִּגְדֵ֣יbig.Dei
H899
a covering · noun, common masculine plural construct
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
holy
הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁha.Ko.desh
H6944
a sacred place or thing · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
city
עִ֣יר'ir
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common feminine singular construct
more
יוֹסִ֛יףyo.Sif
H3254
to add or augment (often adverbial · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
come
יָבֹאya.vo'-
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
uncircumcised
עָרֵ֥ל'a.Rel
H6189
uncircumcised (i.e. still having the prepuce uncurtaile… · adjective, masculine singular absolute
unclean
וְטָמֵֽאve.ta.Me'
H2931
foul in a religious sense · conjunction + adjective, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which ar…
Isaiah 51:17 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…
Zechariah 3:4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I…
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Isaiah 51:9 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 Ra…
Isaiah 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be fo…
Isaiah 48:2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 52:1-6
Here, I. God's people are stirred up to appear vigorous for their own deliverance, Isa 52:1, Isa 52:2. They had desired that God would awake and put on his strength, Isa 51:9. Here he calls upon them to awake and put on their strength, to bestir themselves; let them awake from their despondency, and pluck up their spirits, encourage themselves and one another with the hope that all will be well yet, and no longer succumb and sink under their burden. Let them awake from their distrust, look above them, look about them, look into the promises, look into the providences of God that were working for them, and let them raise their expectations of great things from God. Let them awake from their d…
Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion,.... Aben Ezra says, all interpreters agree that this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, and so it is: by Zion is meant the church in Gospel times, in the latter day glory, which is called upon to awake out of sleep; and this repeated to show what a deep sleep had fallen on her, the danger she was in through it, and the vehemency of the speaker, or the great concern the Lord had for her; and this is the very state and case of the church of Christ now, and the prophecy respects our times, and what follow. There is a general carnal security, and spiritual drowsiness, which has seized the people of God; a non-exercise of grace among them, at least it is n…
Awake, awake. He confirms the former doctrine, in order still more to arouse the people who had been weighed down by grief and sorrow. These things were necessary to be added as spurs, that the doctrine might more easily penetrate into their drowsy and stupified hearts; for he addresses the Church, which appeared to be in a benumbed and drowsy condition, and bids her "awake," that she may collect her strength and revive her courage, he repeats it a second time, and with great propriety; for it is difficult to arouse and reanimate those whose hearts have been struck, and even laid prostrate, by a sense of God's anger.
Put on thy strength. As if he had said, "Formerly thou wast dejected, and…
The Church Fathers
He calls the lower city "Jerusalem," and the city on high "Zion," but both together are one city. This is why he promises restoration to both; and, since foreign nations crossed through it without fear when its inhabitants had been taken captive, he is promising deliverance from these foreigners.… It is due to their sins that they have been sold, but it is by the benevolence of God that they have obtained deliverance.
He calls the holy city "the church." It is sanctified not by the prescribed cultic system, for the law never perfected anyone, but it is made in the likeness of Christ and participates in his divine nature, according to the communication of the Holy Spirit, in whom we are sealed for the day of redemption, with all vileness washed and removed.… We have been justified by faith in him, who reinforces us in all safety and shelters us in his love from every fierce attack of the devil and wild surges of enemy opposition. And so he teaches us when he says "to Zion or Jerusalem, that is, the church of the living God."
(Chapter 52, Verse 1) Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your garments of glory, O Jerusalem, holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean will no longer pass through you. (Verse 1 according to the Septuagint) Rise up, rise up, O Zion; put on your strength, O Zion, and put on your glory, O Jerusalem, holy city. Never again will the uncircumcised and the unclean pass through you. Again, in this place the name Zion is added, as in the Septuagint above, and for this reason it has been slain with the spear. To whom, therefore, he had said above (Chapter 51, verse 9): Lift up, lift up, arise, O Jerusalem; now he speaks to the same: Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion. But the following verse shows what Zion is: Put on your garments of glory, O Jerusalem. We have said this in order to prove that Jerusalem and Zion are one city. And it is commanded to her that she shall put off her mourning garments, and put on those which she had before she drank from the hand of the Lord the cup of fury. And the city is called the sanctuary, for it signifies 'codes' due to the temple that was established in it. Whether it is called 'holy' due to the knowledge of God, or 'sacred' because it alone in the world received the law. Therefore, even after the resurrection of the Savior, the bodies of the dead appeared in the holy city. However, because of blasphemy and the shedding of blood against the Lord, it could not be called holy (Matthew 27). And what is promised, if it rises after its ruin and is clothed with strength and glory, signifies that it will no longer be crossed by the uncircumcised and impure, as the Apostle Paul also says: 'What fellowship can righteousness have with iniquity?' Which society for light to darkness? Which agreement for Christ to Belial? Which part has the faithful with the unbeliever? What consensus has the temple of God with idols (I Cor. VI, 14, 15)? All of these, as we have begun to explain, refer to the state of the soul. And if it regains its original strength through repentance, let it be called the dwelling place of the Holy One, and let it become the temple of God, and by no means let the uncircumcised and unclean reasoning pass through it. Of these it was said: Cleanse me from my hidden sins, O Lord, and spare your servant from alien sins. If I am not dominated by them, then I will be blameless and cleansed from…
Dictionary and topics
Circumcision — Cutting around. This rite, practised before, as some think, by divers races, was appointed by God to be the special badge of his chosen people, an abiding sign of their consecration to him. It was…
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Zion · worship — worship
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
This second call to wake up (see 51:17) was in preparation for a glorious future. • holy city: The new city would be holy because its citizens would be holy (see 4:3). • enter your gates no longer: Things that are unclean will not be permitted to enter the holy city (see Rev 21:27).
