Isaiah 51 · WEB
Comfort for Zion: Look to Abraham, Await God's Salvation
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"Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock you were cut from, and to the hold of the pit you were dug from.
2Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.
3For Yahweh has comforted Zion; he has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness will be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4"Attend to me, my people; and give ear to me, my nation: for a law will go out from me, and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples.
5My righteousness is near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and on my arm they will trust.
6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment; and those who dwell therein will die in the same way. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be abolished.
7"Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law: don't be afraid of the reproach of men, neither be dismayed at their insults.
8For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations."
9Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn't it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the sea monster?
10Isn't it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
11The ransomed of Yahweh will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12"I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who will die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass;
13and have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor?
14The captive exile will speedily be freed; and he will not die and go down into the pit, neither will his bread fail.
15For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. Yahweh of Armies is his name.
16I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, 'You are my people.'"
17Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh's hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunk the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
18There is no one to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up.
19These two things have happened to you. Who will grieve with you? Desolation and destruction, famine and sword. How will I comfort you?
20Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net. They are full of Yahweh's wrath, the rebuke of your God.
21Therefore hear now this, you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
22Thus says your Lord Yahweh, and your God who pleads the cause of his people, "Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will no more drink it again.
23I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, 'Bow down, that we may walk over you;' and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who walk over you."
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Summary
Isaiah 51 contains a triple call — "Listen to me" (vv. 1, 4, 7) and "Awake, awake" (vv. 9, 17) — urging the faithful remnant in exile to look back to Abraham and Sarah as proof that God can multiply a people from one person, and to look forward to God's eternal salvation. God promises to comfort Zion, transform her wilderness into a new Eden, and establish his justice as a light for all nations. The chapter ends with the powerful image of God removing the cup of his wrath from Jerusalem's hand and placing it into the hand of her oppressors.
Themes
- God's eternal salvation versus the temporal nature of creation
- The example of Abraham and Sarah as foundation for hope in impossible circumstances
- God as the ultimate Comforter who removes judgment and reverses the fortunes of his people
- Fear of man versus trust in Yahweh the Creator
- The new Exodus: God's arm that defeated Rahab (Egypt) will act again for the redeemed
Key verses
- Isa 51:12 — “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who will die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass.”
- Isa 51:2 — “Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.”
- Isa 51:22 — “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will no more drink it again.”
- Isa 51:6 — “But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be abolished.”
Context & background
Isaiah 51 is addressed to Jewish exiles in Babylon (modern central Iraq), calling them not to lose heart during their captivity. The reference to "Rahab" (v. 9) is a poetic name for Egypt (modern Egypt), evoking the Exodus crossing of the Red Sea as the paradigm of God's saving power. Abraham and Sarah lived in Ur (modern southern Iraq) and Canaan (modern Israel/Palestine), and their story anchored Israel's identity as a nation built by divine miracle. Jerusalem (modern Israel) is personified as a woman who has been made to drink the cup of God's judgment but is now promised rescue and restoration.
Cross-references
- Gen 12:1–3 — God's call of Abraham from one man, the foundation of the promise recalled in v. 2
- Isa 40:1–2 — The same theme of comfort for Jerusalem that opens the second half of Isaiah
- Ps 89:10 — Rahab crushed at the beginning, paralleling God's defeat of Egypt at the Exodus (v. 9)
- Rev 14:10; Jer 25:15–17 — The cup of God's wrath, which Zion drank and which will now pass to the nations (vv. 17, 22–23)
- Rom 1:16–17 — Paul's echo of Isaiah's "righteousness" and "salvation" revealed for all peoples (vv. 5–6)