Old Testament Commentary - Isaiah 52

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
In the last days, Zion shall return and Israel be redeemed—Messiah shall deal prudently and be exalted.
1 ^aAWAKE, awake; put on thy ^bstrength, O ^cZion; put on thy ^dbeautiful ^egarments, O ^fJerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 2 ^aShake thyself from the dust; ^barise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the ^cbands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.	2 Nephi 8 24 ^aAwake, awake, put on thy ^bstrength, O ^cZion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall ^dno more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. 25 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the ^abands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
" ~ Thus Saith the LORD ~ " The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, though being 3 distinct beings, do act together to form the 'GODHEAD' which in unity and unison of purpose stands as 'GOD' to the benefit of the people in the everlasting covenant. And thus with Jehovah the Christ, being the Anointed Ministering God of this second estate in the name of the Father, He does act in the stead of the Father in all things. Here Isaiah does qoute Jehovah who is speaking and then He, Jehovah the Christ, will qoute the Father in the following verse.
3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have ^asold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without ^bmoney.
" ~ Thus Saith the Lord GOD ~ " Here now Jehovah qoutes the Father. Thus it is Isaiah quoting Jehovah who then quotes the Father. Of course Jehovah, acting for and in behalf of the Father in all things in His stead in ministering to this second estate, does stand an often speak for and in behalf of the Father. And in this case He does actually quote from the Father so that the reader may understand that it is the Father who speaks of His Servant, the Son as the qoute continues.
4 For thus saith the Lord ^aGOD, My people went down aforetime into ^bEgypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
" ~ Saith the LORD ~ " There is a principle which states, 'whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same' (D&C 1:38). Here whether Jehovah speaks of himself or of himself from the perspective of the Father, it is the same as his voice will continue to speak in this chapter until he will speak Messianically concerning the acts of the Son of God.
5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is ^ablasphemed. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that ^aday that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
~ Mosiah 12 ~ 20 And it came to pass that one of them said unto him: ^aWhat meaneth the words which are written, and which have been taught by our fathers, saying: 21 ^aHow beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him ^bthat bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth; 22 ^aThy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion; 23 Break forth into joy; sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem; 24 The Lord hath made bare his holy ^aarm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God? The Book of Mormon prophet Abinidi is asked this question of what is meant by the words which Isaiah recored in Isaiah 52. The brass plates record did contain the words of Isaiah that the people of Nephi did have them. While the wicked priests of King Noah ask the question in Mosiah chapter 12, Abinidi will first set a foundation for his answer a part of which he does by qouting Isaiah 53 in Mosiah 14 making that Isaiah referecne part of the foundation for his answer, And thus he does not answer completely until Mosiah 15 where he again quotes Isaiah 52 in the giving of his answer to the original question asked in Mosiah 12.
7 ¶ How ^abeautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that ^bbringeth ^cgood ^dtidings, that ^epublisheth ^fpeace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto ^gZion, Thy God reigneth! 8 Thy ^awatchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall ^bsee eye to eye, when the LORD ^cshall bring again ^dZion.
9 ¶ Break forth into joy, sing together, ye ^awaste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD hath made ^abare his holy ^barm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall ^csee the ^dsalvation of our God.
11 ¶ Depart ye, depart ye, go ye ^aout from thence, ^btouch no ^cunclean thing; go ye ^dout of the midst of her; be ye ^eclean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. 12 For ye shall not go out with ^ahaste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your ^brereward.
13 ¶ Behold, my ^aservant shall deal ^bprudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were ^aastonied at thee; his ^bvisage was so marred more than any man^a, and his form more than the sons of men: 15 So shall he ^asprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been ^btold them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.	14^a his visage was so marred more than any man When one considers all that Christ did suffer at the hand of man and even more so in the Garden of Eden in performing the atonement, surely no other has gone through and suffered as he did suffer. The concept of 'visage' extends beyond the concept of mutilation, it is more of a term which includes not merely the outward physical appearance but the entire countance of a man, including the inward soul and spirit. No one suffer greater. Not merely the 'appearance' of the Lord, but also the 'visage' of his very being in all of its asspects were 'so marred more than any man'. For no man could have suffered and endured what he did suffer and endure. Beginning with his most intense suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane to the mockery and abuse before his curcifixion the very cross and death itself, no one did suffer more, No man was so totally marred than he was in all aspects of his very being of existance.