Isaiah 12:6

Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Thou inhabitant of Zion.—The Hebrew is feminine. The inhabitant is the daughter of Zion, the restored Church, that has Zion for her dwelling-place.

Great is the Holy One of Israel . . .—The hymn ends with the Divine Name which is characteristic of Isaiah. The presence of the Holy One was to be a joy and blessing to the remnant who were worthy of their calling. With this hymn the whole of what has been called the Immanuel volume of Isaiah’s prophecies comes to its close.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:10-16 When the gospel should be publicly preached, the Gentiles would seek Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and find rest of soul. When God's time is come for the deliverance of his people, mountains of opposition shall become plains before him. God can soon turn gloomy days into glorious ones. And while we expect the Lord to gather his ancient people, and bring them home to his church, also to bring in the fulness of the Gentiles, when all will be united in holy love, let us tread the highway of holiness he has made for his redeemed. Let us wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, looking to him to prepare our way through death, that river which separates this world from the eternal world.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Cry out - (צהלי tsahalı̂y). This word is usually applied to the neighing of a horse Jeremiah 5:8; Jeremiah 8:16. It is also used to express joy, pleasure, exultation, by a clear and loud sound of the voice Isaiah 10:30; Isaiah 12:6; Isaiah 14:14; Isaiah 54:1; Jeremiah 31:7; Jeremiah 50:11. It is here synonymous with the numerous passages in the Psalms, and elsewhere, where the people of God are called on to exult, to shout, to make a noise as expressive of their joy Psalm 47:1; Psalm 148:1-14; Psalm 149:1-9; Isaiah 42:11; Isaiah 44:23; Jeremiah 31:7; Zephaniah 3:14; Zechariah 9:9.

And shout - (ורני vāronı̂y). This word properly means to cry aloud Proverbs 1:20; Proverbs 8:3; to cry for help Lamentations 2:19; to raise a shout of joy, to rejoice, or exult Leviticus 9:24; Job 38:7; to praise, or celebrate with joy Psalm 33:1; Psalm 51:15; Psalm 59:17; Psalm 89:13. Here it denotes the joy in view of God's mercies, which leads to songs of exalted praise.

Thou inhabitant of Zion - Thou that dwellest in Zion; that is, thou who art numbered with the people of God (note, Isaiah 1:8). The margin here is in accordance with the Hebrew - 'Inhabitress of Zion;' and the word used here is applicable to the people, rather than to an individual.

For great is the Holy One of Israel - That is, God has shown himself great and worthy of praise, by the wonderful deliverance which he has worked for his people. Thus closes this beautiful hymn. It is worthy of the theme - worth to be sung by all. O, may all the redeemed join in this song of deliverance; and may the time soon come, when the beautiful vision of the poet shall be realized, in the triumphant song of redemption echoing around the world:

'One song employs all nations; and all cry,

"Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!"

The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks

Shout to each other, and the mountain-tops

From distant mountains catch the flying joy;

Till, nation after nation taught the strain,

Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round.'

"The Task" Book vi.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. inhabitant of Zion—Hebrew, "inhabitress"; so "daughter of Zion," that is, Zion and its people.

in the midst of thee—of Jerusalem literally (Jer 3:17; Eze 48:35; Zep 3:15, 17; Zec 2:10).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Cry out, and shout,.... By singing aloud, with the high praises of God in the mouth:

thou inhabitant of Zion: born and brought up there, free of Zion, that is settled and dwells there, and so happy; since there plenty of provisions is had, health is enjoyed, and the inhabitants in the utmost safety and protection, having the greatest privileges and immunities; and therefore have reason to sing and shout for joy, and especially for what follows:

for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee; by "the Holy One of Israel" is meant Christ, the Redeemer and Husband of this church; see Isaiah 48:17 because, as God, he is the God of Israel, the spiritual Israel, and as such is holy, even glorious in holiness; and, as man, sprung from Israel, literal Israel, and as such is holy in his nature, acts, and offices; and is the sanctifier of the whole Israel of God, from whom they receive all their holiness: he is "in the midst" of his church, in the midst of Zion, and the inhabitants of it, to whom he has promised his presence, and grants it, and which causes such joy and gladness, as nothing else can give; and here he is "great", and shows himself to be so, the great God, and our Saviour; a Saviour, and a great one; a great King over the holy hill of Zion; and a great High Priest over the house of God; wherefore greatness should be ascribed unto him, and praise be given him.

Geneva Study Bible

Cry aloud and shout, {d} thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

(d) You who are of the Church.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. Cry out] the same word as in ch. Isaiah 10:30, but in a very different sense. Cf. ch. Isaiah 24:14, Isaiah 54:1.

inhabitant of Zion] Lit. “inhabitress,” Jerusalem being personified as a woman, Micah 1:11-15; Jeremiah 46:19, &c.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; i.e. raise a "cry" that may be heard far and wide - a cry that shall be a "shout" of rejoicing. The wool translated "inhabitant" is feminine, and designates the entire community or Church that dwells on the holy hill. For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. The crowning glory of the Church is the presence of her Lord in the midst of her a presence continuous ("I am with you always"), efficacious (John 15:4-6), yet invisible (1 Peter 1:8). The Church is ever to proclaim this presence and rejoice in it.



Isaiah 12:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Isaiah 12:3, again, contains a prophetic promise, which points back to the commencement of Isaiah 12:1 : "And with rapture ye will draw water out of the wells of salvation." Just as Israel was miraculously supplied with water in the desert, so will the God of salvation, who has become your salvation, open many and manifold sources of salvation for you (מעיני as it is pointed here, instead of מעיני,

(Note: The root is the same as, for example, in יעלתסּו (they rejoice) and יעלתסּו; here, however, it is more striking, because the singular is written מעין, and not מעין. At the same time, it is evident that the connecting sound ay was rather preferred than avoided, as Ewald maintains - as we may see, for example, from the repeated aychi in Psalm 103.))

from which ye may draw with and according to your heart's delight. This water of salvation, then, forms both the material for, and instigation to, new songs of praise; and Isaiah 12:4-6 therefore continue in the strain of a psalm: "And ye will say in that day, Praise Jehovah, proclaim His name, make known His doings among the nations, boast that His name is exalted. Harp to Jehovah; for He has displayed majesty: let this be known in all lands. Shout and be jubilant, O inhabitants of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." The first song of six lines is here followed by a second of seven lines: a prophetic word of promise, inserted between them, separates the one from the other. This second also commences with the well-known tones of a psalm (compare especially Psalm 105:1; 1 Chronicles 16:8). The phrase, "Call upon the name of Jehovah," signifies, Make the name of Jehovah the medium of invocation (Ges. 138, Anm. 3*), i.e., invoke it, or, as here, call it out. Gē'ūth is high, towering dignity; here it is used of God, as in Isaiah 26:10, with ‛âsâh: to prove it practically, just as with lābēsh in Psalm 93:1, to show one's self openly therein. Instead of the Chethib meyudda‛ath in Isaiah 12:5, the keri substitutes the hophal form mūda‛ath, probably because meyuddâ‛, according to the standing usage of speech, denotes one well known, or intimate; the passive of the hophal is certainly the more suitable. According to the preceding appeals, the words are to be understood as expressing a desire, that the glorious self-attestation of the God of salvation might be brought to the consciousness of the whole of the inhabitants of the earth, i.e., of all mankind. When God redeems His people, He has the salvation of all the nations in view. It is the knowledge of the Holy One of Israel, made known through the word of proclamation, that brings salvation to them all. How well may the church on Zion rejoice, to have such a God dwelling in the midst of it! He is great as the giver or promises, and great in fulfilling them; great in grace, and great in judgment; great in all His saving acts which spread from Israel to all mankind. Thus does this second psalm of the redeemed nation close, and with it the book of Immanuel.