1 The Spirit of my Lord Jehovah is upon me,for Jehovah has anointed meto announce good tidings to the lowly;he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim liberty to the captivesand the opening of the eyes to the bound,
2 to herald the year of Jehovah’s favorand the day of vengeance of our God,to comfort all who mourn:
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
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3 to endow those who mourn in Zion,bestowing upon them a priestly headpiecein place of ashes,the festal anointing in place of mourning,a resplendent robe in place of a downcast spirit.They shall be called oaks of righteousnessplanted by Jehovah for his glory.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
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A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
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4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins,raise up the old waste places;they will renew the desolate citiesdemolished generations ago.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
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A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
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5 Aliens will tend and pasture your flocks;foreigners will be your farmhands and vinedressers.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
green
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
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6 But you shall be called the priests of Jehovahand referred to as the ministers of our God.You shall feed on the wealth of the nationsand be gratified with their choicest provision.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
green
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
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7 Because theira shame was twofold,and shouted insults were their lot,therefore in their landshall their inheritance be twofoldand everlasting joy be theirs.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
green
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
8 For I Jehovah love just dealings—but I abhor extortion in those who sacrifice—and I will appoint them a sure reward;I will make with them an eternal covenant.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
green
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
(1) Jehovah's everlasting covenant, as manifested by the eternal posterity of his holy ones; and (2) Jehovah's end-time servant, who acts as its mediator and seals upon them its blessings.
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9 Their offspring shall be renowned among the nations,their posterity in the midst of the peoples;all who see them will acknowledgethat they are of the lineage Jehovah has blessed.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
green
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
(1) Jehovah's everlasting covenant, as manifested by the eternal posterity of his holy ones; and (2) Jehovah's end-time servant, who acts as its mediator and seals upon them its blessings.
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10 I rejoice exceedingly in Jehovah;my soul delights in my God.For he clothes me in garments of salvation,he arrays me in a robe of righteousness—like a bridegroom dressed in priestly attire,or a bride adorned with her jewels.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
green
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
(1) Jehovah's everlasting covenant, as manifested by the eternal posterity of his holy ones; and (2) Jehovah's end-time servant, who acts as its mediator and seals upon them its blessings.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who personifies everlasting salvation when he comes to reign and who endows his holy ones and their brides in the holy priesthood.
green
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness to Jehovah's people and the nations and who endows Jehovah's holy ones and their brides in the holy priesthood.
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11 For as the earth brings forth its vegetation,and as a garden causes what is sown to spring up in it,so will my Lord Jehovahcause righteousness and praise to spring upin the presence of all nations.
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who reverses his people's circumstances when they prove loyal, who endows them in the holy priesthood and empowers them against enemies.
green
A pseudonym of the end-time king of Assyria/Babylon, who executes vengeance on the wicked of Jehovah's people and the nations when Jehovah reverses the circumstances of his elect.
red
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness, who empowers Jehovah's holy ones to restore his people and to prepare for Jehovah's coming to reign on the earth.
blue
(1) Jehovah's everlasting covenant, as manifested by the eternal posterity of his holy ones; and (2) Jehovah's end-time servant, who acts as its mediator and seals upon them its blessings.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah God of Israel, who personifies everlasting salvation when he comes to reign and who endows his holy ones and their brides in the holy priesthood.
green
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness to Jehovah's people and the nations and who endows Jehovah's holy ones and their brides in the holy priesthood.
blue
A pseudonym of Jehovah's end-time servant, who exemplifies righteousness to Jehovah's people and the nations and who establishes justice and righteousness in the earth.
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Apocalyptic Commentary
Isaiah 61
Word links to Jehovah’s servant in Book of Isaiah tie this passage indissolubly to the servant’s end-time mission of restoring Jehovah’s people as does chapter 61 itself. Jehovah’s “anointing” his servant leads directly to his being filled with Jehovah’s Spirit, as with King David: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13). But when creating composites of types from the past to depict the servant’s restoration of Jehovah’s people, Isaiah may render their historical types incomplete.
Earlier, for example, Isaiah divides the above type in two: “Thus says Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom I grasp by the right hand. . . . It is I who rightfully raise him up, who facilitate his every step; he will rebuild my city and set free my exiles without price or bribe” (Isaiah 45:1, 13; emphasis added); “My servant whom I sustain, my chosen one in whom I delight, him I have endowed with my Spirit; he will dispense justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1; emphasis added). Yet, these two incomplete types appear in parallel in chapters 41-46’s chiastic chaos/creation pattern to identify Jehovah’s servant.
Word links also connect the servant’s heralding good tidings, releasing captives, and opening of eyes: “How comely upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger announcing peace, who brings tidings of good, who heralds salvation, saying to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7); “To Zion, he shall be its harbinger; I will appoint him as a herald of good tidings to Jerusalem” (Isaiah 41:27); “I have created you and appointed you to be a covenant for the people, a light to the nations, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from confinement and from prison those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:6).
Jesus’ applying a part of these verses to himself, however (Luke 4:16-21), is appropriate, as Jehovah/Jesus acts as exemplar to his servant and to all who serve as proxy saviors under the terms of the Davidic Covenant. Jesus nevertheless stops short of applying all of verses 1-2 to himself. Like Isaiah’s prophecy as a whole, “the day of vengeance of our God” is an end-time event (Isaiah 13:6-13; 59:17-20). Its conjunction with the “year of Jehovah’s favor” means that deliverance for Jehovah’s righteous people occurs at the very time the king of Assyria/Babylon destroys the wicked (Isaiah 34:8; 63:4).
As Jehovah comforts and endows his servant, so the servant comforts and endows those who mourn in Zion: “At a favorable time I have answered you; in the day of salvation I have come to your aid: I have created you and appointed you to be a covenant of the people, to restore the Land and reapportion the desolate estates, to say to the captives, ‘Come forth!’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’” (Isaiah 49:8-9); “‘Comfort and give solace to my people,’ says your God; ‘speak kindly to Jerusalem. Announce to her that she has served her term, that her guilt has been expiated’” (Isaiah 40:1).
Mourners in Zion mourn not for themselves but (1) for the apostasy of Jehovah’s people and its aftermath: “Turn your attention from me, though I weep bitterly; hasten not to comfort me at the ruin of the Daughter of my People” (Isaiah 22:4); (2) for Jehovah’s servant and his ill-treatment by Jehovah’s alienated people: “I will heal him; I will guide him and amply console him and those who mourn for him” (Isaiah 57:18); and (3) for Jehovah’s wife who was anciently cast off: “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all who love her; join in her celebration, all who mourn for her” (Isaiah 66:10).
A disparity thus exists between Jehovah’s elect, who constitute the Woman Zion, and Jehovah’s people “in Zion” who comprise the apostates of his people. That disparity is resolved by taking into account the existence of two end-time groups of Jehovah’s people: (1) the former wife who repents—the Woman Zion—whom Jehovah remarries (Isaiah 54:1, 5-6); and (2) the current adulterous wife whom he casts off (Isaiah 50:1), who becomes identified with the Harlot Babylon. Still, Jehovah’s end-time servants who restore Jehovah’s people of the first group themselves originate in the second group.
Jehovah’s servant anoints and clothes these servants in priestly garments as Moses anointed and clothed Aaron and his sons (cf. v 10; Leviticus 8:1-13, Leviticus 8:1-13, 30), empowering them to serve as Zion’s proxy saviors. Called “oaks of righteousness” (v 3; emphasis added), they typify the fruits of the servant’s labors in preparing the way for Jehovah’s coming as salvation (Isaiah 56:1; 62:1). John, in his depiction of such a divine empowerment prior to Jehovah’s Day of Judgment, speaks of an angel ascending from the east who ministers to 144,000 servants of God (Revelation 7:1-4; cf. 14:1-5; Isaiah 66:19).
An integral part of the mission of Jehovah’s servant is to reapportion lands and rebuild ruined cities that Jehovah’s people inhabit during the millennial age: “You shall spread abroad to the right and to the left; your offspring shall dispossess the nations and resettle the desolate cities” (Isaiah 54:3; cf. 44:26; 49:19). The servant thus follows the type of Joshua, who assigned Israel’s tribes their inheritances when they conquered the Land of Canaan (Joshua 11:23; Isaiah 49:8; 58:12). In that day, descendants of former captors and oppressors become servants to Jehovah’s servants (vv 6-9; Isaiah 14:2; 60:14).
Those who minister to Jehovah’s people as his priests are the spiritual kings of the Gentiles on the seraph level who function as proxy saviors to Jehovah’s people under the terms of the Davidic Covenant (Isaiah 49:23; 52:15; 60:3-11). Before Jehovah’s servant empowers them in the holy priesthood (v 3), they suffer “twofold shame” at the hands of Jehovah’s alienated people: (1) through no sin of theirs, though others accuse them; and (2) because they emulate the servant in bearing the iniquities of Jehovah’s repentant people when obtaining their temporal salvation (Isaiah 49:7-12; 53:11; 65:8-9).
As the servant follows the pattern of Jehovah’s descent phase by being “despised as a person” and “abhorred by his nation” before Jehovah reverses his circumstances (Isaiah 49:7; 53:3-4), so do Jehovah’s servants: “Hear the word of Jehovah, you who are vigilant for his word: Your brethren who abhor you, and exclude you because of my name, say, ‘Let Jehovah manifest his glory, that we may see cause for your joy!’ But it is they who shall suffer shame” (Isaiah 66:5). In the end, those who were shamed receive the “twofold inheritance” of birthright sons (Deuteronomy 21:15-17; Isaiah 65:13-14).
Fundamental to whether the sacrifices of those who serve as proxy saviors to Jehovah’s people are acceptable is whether they are backed up by personal righteousness. Acts of extortion or exploitation by Jehovah’s alienated people mark them as hypocrites and render their sacrifices unacceptable (Isaiah 1:11-15). The “sure reward” Jehovah appoints his servants who live amidst their persecutors’ façade of righteousness consists of an “eternal covenant”—his “loving fidelity toward David” (Isaiah 55:3)—the unconditional covenant an emperor makes with his vassals who prove loyal under all conditions.
Not only those for whom Jehovah’s servants function as proxy saviors under the Davidic Covenant but also their own descendants are blessed of God because of their parents’ righteousness: “The lifetime of my people shall be as the lifetime of a tree; my chosen ones shall outlast the work of their hands. They shall not exert themselves in vain, or bear children doomed for calamity. For they are of the lineage of those Jehovah has blessed, and their posterity with them” (Isaiah 65:22-23). In them is Jehovah’s blessing of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob fulfilled (Genesis 17:1-8; 22:16-18; 26:1-4; 35:9-12).
As appears from the singular personal pronouns “I,” “me,” and “my,” only righteous individuals fulfill the terms of the Davidic Covenant and accomplish the restoration of Jehovah’s people. As kings and priests to God, they attain a similar degree of righteousness to that of Jehovah’s servant, becoming instruments of salvation to Jehovah’s people. The marriage covenant the kings and queens of the Gentiles exemplify, in which “jewels” signify posterity, is ultimately inherent in all ascent to higher spiritual levels (v 9; Isaiah 49:17-18, Isaiah 49:17-18, 23; 62:5; 62:5; cf. Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Corinthians 11:11).
The process of creating a bounteous garden—from planting to harvest—parallels the growth and maturation of righteousness and the fruits of righteousness among Jehovah’s elect: “As the rains and snows descend from the sky, and return not to it without watering the earth, to render it fertile and fruitful—providing seed for the sower and food for the eater—so is the word that leaves my mouth: it does not return to me empty; it accomplishes what I desire, achieves the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11; cf. 45:8). So, likewise, the mission of Jehovah’s servant to all nations finally attains its goal.