Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Isaiah · About this commentary
With Joy You Will Draw Water
Isaiah 12:1-6
1 In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me. · WEB
Six verses of song close the first movement, and what is thanked for is the anger that turned away.
In that day you will say, "I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me" Isaiah 12:1.
Six verses, and they close the section that began in chapter one. The refrain of chapters nine and ten was his anger is not turned away; here it has, and the song is built on the reversal of that line.
What is remarkable is that the anger is not denied or explained away. Though you were angry with me is said in a psalm of thanks, by someone who accepts the account of the previous eleven chapters and is grateful for the outcome rather than for a revised version of the history.
Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation Isaiah 12:2.
The middle clause is quoted from the song at the sea Exodus 15:2, word for word. The second exodus of the previous chapter is answered by the first exodus's hymn, which is what a nation sings when the same thing happens twice.
And my salvation is the prophet's own name, which means Yahweh saves. The book's title has become the congregation's line.
Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation Isaiah 12:3.
The one entirely new image in the song, and it is domestic. Drawing water was daily work done by women at a well, unremarkable and endless. What is promised is not a flood or a miracle but a supply that can be gone to with a bucket, repeatedly, for as long as it is needed.
Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name! Declare his doings among the peoples! Proclaim that his name is exalted! Isaiah 12:4.
Four imperatives, and the third turns outward at once. A people who have just been rescued are told to tell the nations, which is the same movement the second chapter described from the other direction.
Sing to Yahweh, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth! Isaiah 12:5.
Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is great among you! Isaiah 12:6.
The last word is the book's own title for God, and the last phrase is the point of the whole section. The Holy One whose presence undid the prophet in chapter six is now among them, and the appropriate response has changed from woe is me to shouting.
settled What this mark means