Isaiah 62:1
in Isaiah 62For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, until her righteousness shines like a bright light, her salvation like a blazing torch.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth.
KJV
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
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This verse in Isaiah 62
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For Zion’s sake - (See the notes at Isa 1:8). On account of Zion; that is, on account of the people of God. I will not hold my peace - There have been very various opinions in regard to the person referred to here by the word ‘I.’ Calvin and Gesenius suppose that the speaker here is the prophet, and that the sense is, he would not intermit his labors and prayers until Zion should be restored, and its glory spread through all the earth.
This site's exposition
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent
on Isaiah 62:1-2
The speaker vows, “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still”. The doubled vow sounds like a watchman who will not leave his post. She receives a name she did not choose: “You will be called by a new name”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 62, verses 1 and following) For the sake of Zion I will not keep silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. And the nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
The Medieval Church1 voice
1086. For Zion's sake. Here he promises the honor of glory to the people. And first, the petition of the prophet is set out; second, the promise of the Lord: the Lord has sworn (Isa 62:8). Concerning the first, he does two things: first, he …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Righteousness - With reference to the Babylonians, understand it of the righteousness of God, who hath promised his people deliverance, and he must be righteous, and so understand salvation before; or rather, the vindicating of his people's cause in the eyes of the nations by the ruin of the Babylonians; he will shew that his people have a righteous cause.
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,.... By Zion and Jerusalem, the church in Gospel times is meant, as it often is in this book, and elsewhere; see Heb 12:22, for whose glory, prosperity, and safety, a concern is here expressed.
It is God's Zion and his Jerusalem, and it is therefore dear to him, because it is so to God and because God's glory is interested in its prosperity. How long he resolves to continue this importunity--till the promise of the church's righteousness and salvation, given in the foregoing chapter, be accomplished.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ps 102:13-17), or else Messiah (compare Isa 62:6). So Messiah is represented as unfainting in His efforts for His people (Isa 42:4; 50:7). righteousness thereof--not its own inherently, but imputed to it, for its restoration to God's favor: hence "salvation" answers to it in the parallelism.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace - These are the words of Jehovah declaring his purpose relative to the events predicted in the preceding chapter. Thou shalt be called by a new name - Viz., Christian - or, as in the fourth verse, חפצי בה chephtsi bah, “my delight is in her” - because she has now received that command, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Hear Him.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For the sake of Zion I will do, and I will not be silent concerning what they did to her.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Till I work salvation for Zion, I will give no rest to the nations, until I bring consolation to Jerusalem, I will give no rest to the kingdoms, till her light be revealed as the early dawn, and her salvation shall burn as a lamp.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְמַ֤עַן | lemaan | for [the] sake of | H4616 → | 272 times |
| צִיּוֹן֙ | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶחֱשֶׁ֔ה | ʾechesheh | I will be silent | H2814 → | 16 times |
| וּלְמַ֥עַן | ulemaan | and for [the] sake of | H4616 → | 272 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶשְׁק֑וֹט | ʾeshkot | I will remain quiet | H8252 → | 41 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| יֵצֵ֤א | yetze' | it will go forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| כַנֹּ֙גַהּ֙ | khanogah | like <the> brightness | H5051 → | 19 times |
| צִדְקָ֔הּ | tzidkah | righteousness its | H6664 → | 119 times |
| וִישׁוּעָתָ֖הּ | vishuatah | and salvation its | H3444 → | 78 times |
| כְּלַפִּ֥יד | kelapid | like a torch | H3940 → | |
| יִבְעָֽר׃ | yivar | [which] it burns | H1197 → | 94 times |
לְמַ֤עַןfor [the] sake of
lemaanH4616 →272 times
צִיּוֹן֙Zion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶחֱשֶׁ֔הI will be silent
ʾecheshehH2814 →16 times
וּלְמַ֥עַןand for [the] sake of
ulemaanH4616 →272 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶשְׁק֑וֹטI will remain quiet
ʾeshkotH8252 →41 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
יֵצֵ֤אit will go forth
yetze'H3318 →1067 times
כַנֹּ֙גַהּ֙like <the> brightness
khanogahH5051 →19 times
צִדְקָ֔הּrighteousness its
tzidkahH6664 →119 times
וִישׁוּעָתָ֖הּand salvation its
vishuatahH3444 →78 times
כְּלַפִּ֥ידlike a torch
kelapidH3940 →
יִבְעָֽר׃[which] it burns
yivarH1197 →94 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 4:18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
it leads to
- John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- Job 11:17
Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.
- Daniel 12:3
Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
- Philippians 2:15
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
- 2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
- John 8:12
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.