Isaiah 52:2

Shake thyself from the dust,.... Or "the dust from thee" (g), in which she had sat, or rolled herself as a mourner; or where she had been trampled upon by her persecutors and oppressors; but now

Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. Shake thyself from the dust - the seat of mourners (Job 2:12-13).

Shake thyself from the dust, in which thou hast lain as a prisoner, or sat as a mourner. Sit down upon thy throne. Or, sit up, as this word is rendered, . Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck; the yoke of thy captivity shall be taken off from thee. It is a metaphor from beasts that have the yoke fastened by bands to their necks.

Isaiah 52:2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, [and] sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.Ver. 2. Shake thyself from the dust.] Wherein thou layest along when trampled on. Arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem.] Rather, Arise, sit up, O Jerusalem. It hath been noted before, that when Vespasian had subdued Judea, money was stamped with a woman sitting in the dust, with this inscription, Iudaea subacta. Loose thyself from the bonds of thy neck.] From thy spiritual servitude especially. Shake the devil’ s yoke from off thy neck, gestague monilia sponsae et libertatis, and get on the spouse’ s ornaments.

(2) Sit down . . .—As Jerusalem has risen from the dust, the “sitting” here implies a throne, and so stands in contrast with that of Babylon in Isaiah 47:1.

Verse 2. Sit down, O Jerusalem - "Ascend thy lofty seat, O Jerusalem"] The literal rendering here is, according to our English translation, "arise, sit;" on which a very learned person remarks: "So the old versions. But sitting is an expression of mourning in Scripture and the ancients; and doth not well agree with the rising just before." It does not indeed agree, according to our ideas; but, considered in an oriental light, it is perfectly consistent. The common manner of sitting in the eastern countries is upon the ground or the floor with the legs crossed. The people of better condition have the floors of their chambers or divans covered with carpets for this purpose; and round the chamber broad couches, raised a little above the floor, spread with mattresses handsomely covered, which are called sofas. When sitting is spoken of as a posture of more than ordinary state, it is quite of a different kind; and means sitting on high, on a chair of state or throne called the musnud; for which a footstool was necessary, both in order that the person might raise himself up to it, and for supporting the legs when he was placed in it. "Chairs," says Sir John Chardin, "are never used in Persia, but at the coronation of their kings. The king is seated in a chair of gold set with jewels, three feet high. The chairs which are used by the people in the east are always so high as to make a footstool necessary. And this proves the propriety of the style of Scripture, which always joins the footstool to the throne." (Isaiah 66:1; Psalms 110:1.) Voyages, tom. ix. p. 85, 12mo. Besides the six steps to Solomon's throne, there was a footstool of gold fastened to the seat, 2 Chronicles 9:18, which would otherwise have been too high for the king to reach, or to sit on conveniently. When Thetis comes to wait on Vulcan to request armour for her son, she is received with great respect, and seated on a silver-studded throne, a chair of ceremony, with a footstool: - Τηνμενεπειτακαθεισενεπιθρονουαργυροηλου, Καλου, δαιδαλεου·ὑποδεθρηνυςποσινηεν. Iliad xviii. 389. "High on a throne, with stars of silver graced, And various artifice, the queen she placed; A footstool at her feet." POPE. Ὁγαρθρονοςαυτοςμονονελευθεριοςεστικαθεδρασυνὑποποδιῳ. Athenaeus, v. 4. "A throne is nothing more than a handsome sort of chair with a footstool." - L.

Ch. Isaiah 52:1-2. Here the prophet’s imagination takes a higher flight. The cup of indignation having finally passed from her hands, Jerusalem is summoned to shake off her stupor, and array herself in garments befitting her dignity as the bride of Jehovah. The description is influenced by the contrast (evidently intentional) to the taunt-song on the “daughter of Babylon” (ch. Isaiah 47:1 ff.). put on thy strength] Cf. ch. Isaiah 51:9. the holy city] as ch. Isaiah 48:2. for … there shall no more come &c.] Note the correspondence with Isaiah 47:1; Isaiah 47:5. the uncircumcised and the unclean] i.e. not foreigners generally (as Joe 3:17), as if the passage expressed the exclusiveness of later Judaism, but the “destroyers” and “wasters” who at present desecrate her soil; see on Isaiah 49:17. Cf. Nahum 1:15; Zechariah 9:8. 2. arise and sit down] The meaning might be, “arise from the dust, and sit on thy throne,”—a contrast to Isaiah 47:1. loose thyself … neck] Better perhaps loose for thee the bonds &c.; the reflexive verb having the same force as an ethical dative. The alternative rendering of R.V. marg. “the bands of thy neck are loosed” represents the Hebrew consonantal text. The Qerê, however, is here supported by the Ancient Versions, and is undoubtedly to be preferred.

Shake thyself from the dust - To sit on the ground, to sit in the dust, is an expression descriptive of mourning Job 2:13.

1, 2. Put on… strength — Not splendour, (Gesenius,) but “strength,” imparted through conscious union with Jehovah.