Isaiah 62

ישעיהו פרק ס״ב

Section: נביאים · נביאים אחרונים | Book: Isaiah | Chapter: 62 of 66 | Day: 209 of 742

Date: September 8, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 62 belongs to the great sequence of consolation that closes Sefer Yeshayahu, and it opens with one of the most arresting first-person declarations in the book: “For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still” (למען ציון לא אחשה ולמען ירושלם לא אשקוט). The speaker’s identity is itself a question the commentators weigh. Rashi and Metzudat David read the voice as God’s own, refusing to keep quiet about the insult done to Zion when she was razed to her foundations, and refusing to rest until her vindication breaks out like dawn-light. Radak likewise takes these as the words of the Holy One spoken while Israel is still in exile, adding that Zion and Jerusalem here are one city named twice, in the parallel style the chapter sustains throughout. The two images of verse 1, the brightness of daybreak (כנגה) and a burning torch (כלפיד), do different work: Radak notes that a torch is precisely what can be seen from far away, so that the distant nations will witness her deliverance.

The heart of the chapter is a sequence of names. Jerusalem will be called by a new name that the mouth of God will designate (verse 2), and the old names will be retired: no longer Forsaken (עזובה) and no longer Desolate (שממה), but Hephzibah, “I delight in her” (חפצי בה), and Beulah, “espoused” (בעולה). Metzudat David distributes these carefully, taking Hephzibah as the name of Jerusalem herself and Beulah as the name of the wider land, which will be settled and inhabited rather than empty. Rashi glosses בעולה simply as “inhabited,” and Radak develops the metaphor at length: a settled land resembles a woman who has a husband, while a desolate land is like a widow, which is why Eichah could lament that the city once great with people had become as a widow. The renaming is thus not decorative but ontological. A name in Tanakh records a condition, and to change Jerusalem’s name is to reverse her history.

Verse 5 pushes the marital image to its limit with a double comparison whose second half is startling: as a young man espouses a maiden, so shall your sons espouse you, and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. Radak explains the first half with real precision, noting that the pairing of a young man with a virgin is the fitting match, unlike an old man with a virgin or a young man with one already married, and that so long as Israel’s own children were not dwelling in the land, the land was not truly “espoused” even when others occupied it. The second half raises the register from the sons to God Himself, and Radak observes that a bridegroom’s joy belongs to the days of the wedding canopy, when the relationship is still new, so that the promise is of a joy that never grows stale.

The chapter’s middle section stations watchmen on the walls who are never silent by day or by night (verse 6), and here the commentators offer a striking range. Rashi records the rabbinic reading, found in Menachot, that these are angels who remind God of the city’s destruction so that He will rebuild it, praying in the words of Tehillim, “You will arise and have mercy on Zion”; he also records Yonatan’s rendering that “your walls” are the early forefathers who shield us like a wall, and that the watchmen are appointed to write a book of remembrance so that the merit of Israel is not forgotten. Metzudat David reads them as the mourners of Zion, who unlike ordinary sentries do not sleep by day but weep and mourn around the clock. Radak collects all of these and adds a further possibility: the watchmen are Israel in exile, who keep watch for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and mention it constantly in their prayers and blessings. Verse 7’s “give no rest to Him” then becomes, in Metzudat David’s reading, an instruction to press God without letting up until Jerusalem is established and made a praise in the earth, and Radak notes the artful reversal by which the silence of the speaker and the silence of the Listener are one and the same silence.

The closing movement swears an oath and issues a summons. God swears by His right hand and His mighty arm that Israel’s grain and wine will no longer feed enemies and foreigners; instead those who harvest will eat and praise (verse 9), and Radak hears in the phrase “and they shall praise the Lord” an allusion to maaser sheni and neta revai, which were eaten only within Jerusalem’s walls, so that “in My holy courts” describes the whole city as the precinct of that praise. Then the imperatives pile up in verse 10: pass through the gates, clear the road, build up the highway, remove the stones, raise an ensign over the peoples. Rashi preserves both a literal and a moral reading of “clear it of stones,” repairing the roads for the ingathering of the exiles and clearing away the yetzer hara, while Radak insists the whole scene is a figure, since when the hour of redemption arrives the nations themselves will tell Israel to go home. The chapter ends by completing the arc of names it began: the people are “the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord,” and the city, which had said “the Lord has forsaken me,” is now called Derushah, “Sought Out, a city not forsaken” (דרושה עיר לא נעזבה). Radak’s comment is exactly the right last word, that this is the precise reversal of the earlier cry that she was one whom no one seeks.

פרק ס״ב · Chapter 62

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

לְמַ֤עַן צִיּוֹן֙ לֹ֣א אֶחֱשֶׁ֔ה וּלְמַ֥עַן יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם לֹ֣א אֶשְׁק֑וֹט עַד־יֵצֵ֤א כַנֹּ֙גַהּ֙ צִדְקָ֔הּ וִישׁוּעָתָ֖הּ כְּלַפִּ֥יד יִבְעָֽר׃

English:

For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still, Till her victory emerge resplendent And her triumph like a flaming torch.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וְרָא֤וּ גוֹיִם֙ צִדְקֵ֔ךְ וְכׇל־מְלָכִ֖ים כְּבוֹדֵ֑ךְ וְקֹ֤רָא לָךְ֙ שֵׁ֣ם חָדָ֔שׁ אֲשֶׁ֛ר פִּ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה יִקֳּבֶֽנּוּ׃

English:

Nations shall see your victory, And every king your majesty; And you shall be called by a new name That GOD shall bestow.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וְהָיִ֛ית עֲטֶ֥רֶת תִּפְאֶ֖רֶת בְּיַד־יְהֹוָ֑ה (וצנוף) [וּצְנִ֥יף] מְלוּכָ֖ה בְּכַף־אֱלֹהָֽיִךְ׃

English:

You shall be a glorious crown In the hand of GOD, And a royal diadem In the palm of your God.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

לֹא־יֵאָמֵר֩ לָ֨ךְ ע֜וֹד עֲזוּבָ֗ה וּלְאַרְצֵךְ֙ לֹא־יֵאָמֵ֥ר עוֹד֙ שְׁמָמָ֔ה כִּ֣י לָ֗ךְ יִקָּרֵא֙ חֶפְצִי־בָ֔הּ וּלְאַרְצֵ֖ךְ בְּעוּלָ֑ה כִּֽי־חָפֵ֤ץ יְהֹוָה֙ בָּ֔ךְ וְאַרְצֵ֖ךְ תִּבָּעֵֽל׃

English:

Nevermore shall you be called “Forsaken,” Nor shall your land be called “Desolate”; But you shall be called “I delight in her,” And your land “Espoused.” For GOD takes delight in you, And your land shall be espoused.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

כִּֽי־יִבְעַ֤ל בָּחוּר֙ בְּתוּלָ֔ה יִבְעָל֖וּךְ בָּנָ֑יִךְ וּמְשׂ֤וֹשׂ חָתָן֙ עַל־כַּלָּ֔ה יָשִׂ֥ישׂ עָלַ֖יִךְ אֱלֹהָֽיִךְ׃

English:

As a youth espouses a maiden, Your sons shall espouse you; And as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, So will your God rejoice over you.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

עַל־חוֹמֹתַ֣יִךְ יְרוּשָׁלַ֗͏ִם הִפְקַ֙דְתִּי֙ שֹֽׁמְרִ֔ים כׇּל־הַיּ֧וֹם וְכׇל־הַלַּ֛יְלָה תָּמִ֖יד לֹ֣א יֶחֱשׁ֑וּ הַמַּזְכִּרִים֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֔ה אַל־דֳּמִ֖י לָכֶֽם׃

English:

Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set sentries, Who shall never be silent By day or by night. O you, the ETERNAL One’s remembrancers, Take no rest

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

וְאַֽל־תִּתְּנ֥וּ דֳמִ֖י ל֑וֹ עַד־יְכוֹנֵ֞ן וְעַד־יָשִׂ֧ים אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלַ֛͏ִם תְּהִלָּ֖ה בָּאָֽרֶץ׃

English:

And give no rest to [God], Until Jerusalem is established And she is made renowned on earth.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

נִשְׁבַּ֧ע יְהֹוָ֛ה בִּימִינ֖וֹ וּבִזְר֣וֹעַ עֻזּ֑וֹ אִם־אֶתֵּן֩ אֶת־דְּגָנֵ֨ךְ ע֤וֹד מַֽאֲכָל֙ לְאֹ֣יְבַ֔יִךְ וְאִם־יִשְׁתּ֤וּ בְנֵֽי־נֵכָר֙ תִּֽירוֹשֵׁ֔ךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָגַ֖עַתְּ בּֽוֹ׃

English:

GOD has sworn with the right hand, With a mighty arm: Nevermore will I give your new grain To your enemies for food, Nor shall foreigners drink the new wine For which you have labored.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

כִּ֤י מְאַסְפָיו֙ יֹאכְלֻ֔הוּ וְהִֽלְל֖וּ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֑ה וּמְקַבְּצָ֥יו יִשְׁתֻּ֖הוּ בְּחַצְר֥וֹת קׇדְשִֽׁי׃ {ס}         

English:

But those who harvest it shall eat it And give praise to GOD; And those who gather it shall drink it In My sacred courts.

פסוק י׳ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

עִבְר֤וּ עִבְרוּ֙ בַּשְּׁעָרִ֔ים פַּנּ֖וּ דֶּ֣רֶךְ הָעָ֑ם סֹ֣לּוּ סֹ֤לּוּ הַֽמְסִלָּה֙ סַקְּל֣וּ מֵאֶ֔בֶן הָרִ֥ימוּ נֵ֖ס עַל־הָעַמִּֽים׃

English:

Pass through, pass through the gates! Clear the road for the people; Build up, build up the highway, Remove the rocks! Raise an ensign over the peoples!

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

הִנֵּ֣ה יְהֹוָ֗ה הִשְׁמִ֙יעַ֙ אֶל־קְצֵ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ אִמְרוּ֙ לְבַת־צִיּ֔וֹן הִנֵּ֥ה יִשְׁעֵ֖ךְ בָּ֑א הִנֵּ֤ה שְׂכָרוֹ֙ אִתּ֔וֹ וּפְעֻלָּת֖וֹ לְפָנָֽיו׃

English:

See, GOD has proclaimed To the end of the earth: Announce to Fair Zion, Your Deliverer is coming! See, [God] has brought along the reward, The recompense is in view.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וְקָרְא֥וּ לָהֶ֛ם עַם־הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ גְּאוּלֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה וְלָךְ֙ יִקָּרֵ֣א דְרוּשָׁ֔ה עִ֖יר לֹ֥א נֶעֱזָֽבָה׃ {ס}         

English:

And they shall be called, “The Holy People, GOD’s Redeemed,” And you shall be called, “Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”

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