Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come
1 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you! 2 For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 “Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried in arms. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you. 6 A multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense, and will proclaim the praises of Yahweh. 7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you. The rams of Nebaioth will serve you. They will be accepted as offerings on my altar; and I will beautify my glorious house. 8 “Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? 9 Surely the islands will wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far away, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. 10 “Foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will serve you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. 11 Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive. 12 For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted. 13 “The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 14 The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you; and all those who despised you will bow themselves down at the soles of your feet. They will call you Yahweh’s City, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. 16 You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 For bronze I will bring gold; for iron I will bring silver; for wood, bronze, and for stones, iron. I will also make peace your governor, and righteousness your ruler. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor desolation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. 19 The sun will be no more your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon give light to you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. 20 Your sun will not go down any more, nor will your moon withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will end. 21 Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. 22 The little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation. I, Yahweh, will do this quickly in its time.”
Light arrives on one city while the earth stays dark, and the gates are left open because nobody is coming to attack.
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you!
The imperative is odd — a command to shine, given to something that has no light of its own. The reason follows: the light has come, and the glory has risen, both accomplished. The shining asked for is reflection.
For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you.
The two facts are simultaneous. The dark does not lift everywhere; light falls on one place while the rest stays covered, which is why it can be seen at all.
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
And the point of the arrangement. A lit place in a dark landscape is what people walk toward.
“Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried in arms.
A multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All from Sheba will come. They will bring gold and frankincense, and will proclaim the praises of Yahweh.
Camels out of the desert and two of the three gifts that arrive in Matthew's account of the visitors from the east Matthew 2:11.
“Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
The finest image in the chapter, and it is a question asked by someone watching. Sails on the horizon look like a cloud coming in; and homing doves returning to a dovecote is what the returning exiles look like from the city walls. Both comparisons are about something coming back to where it belongs.
“Foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will serve you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you.
Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive.
A city gate was shut at dusk, every night, without exception. Gates permanently open are a statement that nothing hostile is expected — and the same detail describes the city at the end of Scripture Revelation 21:25.
For bronze I will bring gold; for iron I will bring silver; for wood, bronze, and for stones, iron. I will also make peace your governor, and righteousness your ruler.
Every material is upgraded one grade, including the stones.
17 For bronze I will bring gold; for iron I will bring silver; for wood, bronze, and for stones, iron. I will also make peace your governor, and righteousness your ruler. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor desolation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.
The two structures a city depends on are renamed for what they now consist of.
The sun will be no more your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon give light to you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
The last book of Scripture repeats the verse of the city that needs no sun Revelation 21:23.
The little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation. I, Yahweh, will do this quickly in its time.”
The last clause holds two things together that do not obviously belong: quickly, and in its time.
settled What this mark means