Isaiah 54 Study Notes

54:1 A childless woman was often scorned in the ancient Near East and sometimes replaced by a secondary wife. With no sons to care for her in her old age, she was particularly vulnerable. Thus, barrenness is a frequent image of loneliness and helplessness. In this verse Jerusalem is a barren woman who will have a child (like Sarah, Rachel, or Hannah). Indeed she will have many children. Thus her sadness will turn to joy (Ps 113:9). Paul quotes this verse in Gl 4:27.

54:2-3 An enlarged family must have a larger place to live. Restored Jerusalem will teem with inhabitants, stretching its boundaries.

54:4-5 A worse fate than childlessness was being a widow. Such a woman had no husband to protect her and care for her. The pronouncement tells the widow Israel not to be afraid because God has married her. She has gone from nothing to everything, as the list of divine names makes clear.

54:6-8 The metaphor changes in this verse. Israel is no longer a widow; she is a divorcee. God, her husband, has abandoned her; now he will take her back. The relationship between God and Israel as described here is like the relationship between Hosea and Gomer (Hs 1; 3) that typifies Israel’s relationship with God. He rejected Israel because of her sin (in a surge of anger), but now he takes her back with everlasting covenant love.

54:9-10 After the flood, God promised, “Water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature” (Gn 9:15). God declares in these verses that though Israel may sin, he will not completely eradicate his people. He may make the hills shake, but he will not completely destroy them. Thus, God is compassionate in not treating Israel as they deserve because of their transgressions. The covenant of peace may be an allusion to the covenant with Noah, symbolized by the rainbow.

54:11-12 Jerusalem is now personified as a storm-tossed city that God will restore to unprecedented splendor, made of precious stones and metals, which anticipates new Jerusalem in Rv 21:15-21.

54:13 The children of Jerusalem are its inhabitants who will be taught by the Lord. The new covenant of Jr 31:31-34 anticipated a time when God’s people would no longer need a teacher, “for they will all know me.” Jesus quotes this verse in Jn 6:45.

54:14 Because righteousness is the foundation of the city, its security and safety is assured.

54:15 Those who attacked Jerusalem (the Assyrians in 701 BC and the Babylonians in 605, 597, and 586 BC) did so with God’s permission, but after the restoration, their enemies will not be God-sent and will fall for that reason.

54:16-17 Using both military (weapon) and legal (accusation) metaphors, God proclaims that his people will withstand all attacks because of his protection.