1The LORD’s spirit is upon me
as the LORD has anointed me
to bring good tidings to the poor,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim freedom to the captives,
to the prisoners, release,
2to proclaim a year of favor for the LORD
and a day of vengeance for our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3to set out for the mourners of Zion,
to give them turbans instead of ashes,
joy’s oil instead of mourning,
a glorious wrap instead of gloomy spirit.
And they shall be called oaks of victory,
God’s planting in which to glory.
4And they shall rebuild the ancient ruins,
the desolate places of yore they shall raise up,
and renew the ravaged towns,
and the desolate places of times long past.
5And foreigners shall stand and tend your flocks
and strangers be your farmers and keepers of your vineyards.
6As for you, the LORD’s priests you shall be called,
our God’s ministrants it shall be said of you.
The wealth of nations you shall enjoy
and in their glory revel.
7Instead of the shame twice over and disgrace
they shall exult in their lot.
Therefore they shall possess their land twice over,
everlasting joy shall be theirs.
8For I, the LORD, love justice,
and I will truly pay their wages,
an everlasting pact I will seal with them.
9And their seed shall be known in the nations,
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them shall recognize
that they are the seed the LORD has blessed.
10I shall greatly rejoice in the LORD,
my very being exult in my God.
For He has clothed me with garments of triumph,
has wrapped me with victory’s cloak,
as a bridegroom dons, priestlike, a turban
and as a bride is adorned in fine clothes.
11For as the earth brings forth its growth
and a garden makes its plants flourish,
so shall the LORD make victory flourish
and praise before all the nations.
CHAPTER 61 NOTES
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1. The LORD’s spirit is upon me . . . / to bring good tidings to the poor. This prophet of the fifth century B.C.E. announces at the outset of the prophecy that he has been commissioned to bring a message of comfort, not castigation.
the poor. While many understand ʿanawim as “the humble,” it can also be a variant form of ʿaniyim, “poor,” and the prophet appears to be referring to people in a state of wretchedness.
to proclaim freedom to the captives. The first verb and noun here echo the language concerning the jubilee year in Leviticus 25:10, where Israelite slaves were restored to freedom. Efforts to link these lines with specific conditions in the fifth-century Judahite community are, however, no more than conjectures. Captivity is a recurrent poetic image for all sorts of states of subjugation, including its frequent use in chapters 40–55 as a metaphor for exile.
3. turbans instead of ashes. The Hebrew features sound-play: “turban” (often the word means “splendor”) is peʾeir and “ashes,” ʾeifer, the same Hebrew consonants in a different order.
joy’s oil instead of mourning. Rubbing oneself with oil was part of the enjoyment of the good life, and mourners would refrain from this practice. Putting ashes on the head was a mourning rite.
4. ancient ruins. The ruins were made when Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C.E., well over a century before this prophecy, and from the poet’s perspective these ruins are “ancient,” from “times long past.”
6. the LORD’s priests you shall be called. One should not take this declaration literally. The point is that all the people will now enjoy an intimate relationship with God in the Temple, rather in the spirit of all Israel’s being “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).
7. they shall possess their land twice over. This is a hyperbolic flourish: the people dispossessed of their land will now hold on to it with doubled security. The phrase might also refer to a second taking-possession of the land after the first one in Joshua’s conquest.
8. robbery and vice. The Masoretic Text reads for the second noun beʿolah, “in burnt offering,” but this should be revocalized as beʿawlah.
10. For He has clothed me with garments of triumph. The clothing metaphor, continued here until the end of the verse, picks up the “turban” and the “glorious wrap” from verse 3.
as a bridegroom dons, priestlike, a turban. The Hebrew uses a verb, yekhahein, that literally means “to minister as a priest.” The priests wore turbans and splendid robes and so serve as a model for fine attire.
as a bride is adorned in fine clothes. “Fine” is implied in the Hebrew because the verb used is one for putting on ornaments.