Isaiah 40:19

40:19 A craftsman casts an idol;

a metalsmith overlays it with gold

and forges silver chains for it.

Isaiah 52:2

52:2 Shake off the dirt!

Get up, captive Jerusalem!

Take off the iron chains around your neck,

O captive daughter Zion!


tn Heb “pours out”; KJV “melteth.”

tn Heb “Shake yourself free from the dirt.”

tc The Hebrew text has שְּׂבִי (shÿvi), which some understand as a feminine singular imperative from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit”). The LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum support the MT reading (the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does indirectly). Some interpret this to mean “take your throne”: The Lord exhorts Jerusalem to get up from the dirt and sit, probably with the idea of sitting in a place of honor (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:361). However, the form is likely a corruption of שְׁבִיָּה (shÿviyyah, “captive”), which appears in the parallel line.