Isaiah Chapter 4

This is a short chapter, especially if 4.1 is read with the concluding poem in chapter 3.

I am struggling with the poetic idea in 4.2 of the branch of Yahweh. It is not the same word used in 11.1 that refers directly to a descendant of Jesse. Here I almost think it refers to the land itself.

The branch of Yahweh will be for beauty and and glory,
The fruit of the land, for pride and splendor
To the spared people of Israel.

Verse 3 picks up another reference, those who remain (after what - perhaps the siege of Sennacherib?)

And it will be, the remaining in Zion
and the left over in Jerusalem
Holy it will be called to him
All who are written for life in Jerusalem.

It is easy for Christians to interpret this language as metaphorical language for eternal life, but how might it have been understood to the people of Jerusalem, trying to live through the seige of 705-701?

Does holy refer to the remaining and the left over or to Jerusalem, and branch of Yahweh?

Is it a holy remnant or a holy land that survives for beauty and glory?

ETA Trying another rendering of the first lines of verse 3: And the remaining will be in Zion, and the left over, in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 23.5

Behold days coming, declaration of Yahweh,
And I will raise to/for David a righteous branch
And he will become king

The same word for branch is used here as in Isaiah 4.2. Here there is a beginning of an anticipation of a messiah. In the Isaiah passage, it still seems to me to be looking for a renewal of the land.

The LXX version of these verses is interesting.

Verse 2
And in that day, God will shine in counsel with glory upon the earth
To raise and to glorify the remaining of Israel.

Not real sure how to compare this to the Hebrew verse. The JPS translation has:

"The radiance of the LORD will lend beauty and glory"

I had not understood this translation at all, until I looked at the LXX. Generally I think the JPS gives priority to the Hebrew. Perhaps here they have an eye to the LXX.

The difference in the renderings seem to me that either 1) the land of Yahweh wil be glorious and fruitful for those remaining or 2) Yahweh will be glorious to those remaining.

While either points ultimately to Yahweh, it seems to me that the emphasis is different - a return to a fruitful land compared to a coming of God.

Might it be that the Hebrew anticipates an immediate restoration of fruitfulness in the land, that the LXX felt necessary to reinterpret given the Babylonian exile in 587?

#2 Is it a holy remnant or a holy land that survives for beauty and glory?

The LXX does not leave this in question.

LXX Verse 3
And it will be the remaining left in Zion and the left alone in Jerusalem
All who are written for life in Jerusalem will be called holy.

The LXX calls the remnant, holy. And that may be the sense of the Hebrew, but I still lean toward the land being holy in the Hebrew.

Verse 5 has unmistakable references to the Exodus with the mention of the presence of God in the cloud by day and the fire by night.

In Ex 13.22 the cloud and fire allowed the Israelites travel by day and by night

Ex 34-38 the cloud covers the tent of meeting, indicating the LORD's presence. Perhaps this is the allusion in the latter part of Isaiah 4.5: "Indeed over all the glory the sheltering roof."

The LXX has in verse 5, "He will come" instead of "He will create". There is enough similarity in the spelling of the two Hebrew verbs, come and create, for such an error. One commentary suggests that Isaiah does not use the verb "create" very often.

Also, along those lines, if the correct verb is "will come" then it might better fit the allusion to God's presence in the cloud and fire, and then make the point that God had been absent.

The images of cloud and fire then possibly communicate to a troubled people that God's presence will return.

The verb "create" just does not build much upon the Exodus reference.

Verse 5 has unmistakable references to the Exodus with the mention of the presence of God in the cloud by day and the fire by night.

In Ex 13.22 the cloud and fire allowed the Israelites travel by day and by night

Ex 34-38 the cloud covers the tent of meeting, indicating the LORD's presence. Perhaps this is the allusion in the latter part of Isaiah 4.5: "Indeed over all the glory the sheltering roof."

The LXX has in verse 5, "He will come" instead of "He will create". There is enough similarity in the spelling of the two Hebrew verbs, come and create, for such an error. One commentary suggests that Isaiah does not use the verb "create" very often.

Also, along those lines, if the correct verb is "will come" then it might better fit the allusion to God's presence in the cloud and fire, and then make the point that God had been absent.

The images of cloud and fire then possibly communicate to a troubled people that God's presence will return.

The verb "create" just does not build much upon the Exodus reference.

Verse 6 in the Hebrew uses an image that is difficult in the context.

"A sukkah will be for shade of days from the dry heat and for refuge and for hiding from the storm burst and rain."

The thing is that a sukkah is a temporary shelter. And is mentioned as a poor shelter in Isaiah 1.8.

The roof should to provide more shade than sun
The roof should provide visibility to the start
The roof should allow rain to come through

The sukkah is not especially good shelter from a heavy storm.

The LXX has does not refer to a sukkah, only that protection will be provided from the heat and the rain.

The RSV translates sukkah as a pavilion.

The Isaiah Dead Sea Scroll seems to close to the LXX, not specifying a sukkah, but I only have an English translation of the DSS.

I do not know if there is a specific allusion in the idea of protection from the heat and the rain, similar to the allusion to the cloud and fire from the Exodus. If anyone knows of a specific reference, please put it in a comment.

"All who are written for life in Jerusalem."

This verse 3 can easily be read with Christian perspectives to mean eternal life, but I think the passage has a vision for those who survive the present strife - which I think is the seige of 705.

And "all written for life" simply is poetic language for those who make it through the strife.

Isaiah is looking to a time when the land will be restored for beauty and fruitfulness. The strife will be seen as a cleansing action to rid the filth and infamy of Judah and Jerusalem.

As always, the word for spirit is also the word for wind.

So in verse 4 we have "in the spirit of judgment," or "in the wind of judgment." The same in the next line - spirit or wind of burning.

The spirit might imply a divine presence.
The wind might imply an earthly force, such as the Assyrians.

I am leaning toward reading these verses as meaning "wind", with the focus on the worldly force used in the cleansing.