[5] The reinstitution of the marital ties between God and
His people.
For He who created you will espouse you—There is no reason for you to remain in a state of ignominy, since the
Lord “who made you (עֹשַׂיִךְ)” (see Isa 44:2: “Thus said the Lord, your Maker [עֹשֶׂךָ], your
Creator who has helped you since birth”; cf. also 43:7; 45:7; 51:13) “shall
once again take you back as His wife”; cf. 54:1; 62:4, 5; Jer 3:14; 31:31. עֹשַׂיִךְ is a qal participle with a second-person
feminine singular suffix; cf. Isa 22:11: “But you gave no thought to Him who
planned it (עֹשֶׂיהָ)”; Ps 149:2: “Let Israel rejoice in its Maker (בעֹשָׂיו).” The poʿel participle בֹּעֲלַיִךְ (note the
phonetic similarity between it and עֹשַׂיִך) denotes “one who bonds in a
spousal relationship.” The plural forms are explained as referring to “the
plurality of the Godhead” (Ibn Balaam, ed. Goshen-Gottstein, 217); or,
according to Ibn Ganaḥ, “in order to glorify and exalt” (Sefer ha-Riqmah, 295, line 18); but see also GKC §124k. Note the
variant reading of 1QIsaa: בעלכי (“your Husband”) (as in LXX,
Peshitta, and Targum: מָרִיךְ) and עושך (“your Maker” [singular]); the י is written, however, above
the line: עושיך. For the espousal image, see v. 1; and for the verb בעל in similar
contexts, see 62:5; Deut 21:13; 24:1; Mal 2:11. There may be a deliberate
wordplay here as well, since the word בעליך may be phonetically divided
into two: ב(א) עליך (“He who comes unto you”), in the sexual sense; cf. 2 Sam
12:24.
His name is “Lord of Hosts”—a divine
sobriquet emphasizing the Deity’s power and potency; see Isa 44:6; 45:13; 47:4;
48:2.
The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer—For the two titles, “Redeemer” (גואל) and “the Holy One of Israel”
(קדוש ישראל), in tandem, see 41:14; 43:14; 47:4 (where they appear in the
same sequence: “Our Redeemer—Lord of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of
Israel”); 48:17; 49:7. For similar divine epithets in Mesopotamian literature,
see CAD D:19–20. (See the
introduction, §9.)
He is called “God of all the earth”—For similar expressions, cf. “Sovereign of all the earth” (אדון כל הארץ; Josh 3:11,
13; Zech 4:14; 6:5; Ps 97:5); “King over all the earth” (מלך כל הארץ; Zech 14:9;
Ps 47:8); “God of the earth” (אלהי הארץ; Gen 24:3; 2 Kgs 17:26
[twice], 27). (Shalom M. Paul, Isaiah 40-66: Translation and Commentary
[Eerdmans Critical Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2012], 421-22)
