Isaiah 62:5

62:1-5 The Son of God here assures his church of his unfailing love, and his pleading for her under all trails and difficulties. She shall be called by a new name, a pleasant name, such as she was never called by before. The state of true religion in the world, before the preaching of the gospel, no man seemed to have any real concern for. God, by his grace, has wrought that in his church, which makes her his delight. Let us thence learn motives to holiness. If the Lord rejoices over us, we should rejoice in his service.

For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee,.... As a young man, having married a virgin, possesses and enjoys her, and lives and dwells with her in great harmony and love, having a delight and complacency in her, there being a suitableness in her person and age; so those that are born in Zion, and brought up there, have communion with the church, and enjoy the ordinances of it; dwell and continue with her, and delight in her fellowship, ways, and worship; and have their hearts knit in love to her, professing the same faith, joining in the same worship, and walking with her in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

So the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it (g), "as a young man dwells with a virgin, so thy sons shall dwell in thee"; as does the Targum in like manner; and so Jarchi interprets it; for it seems exceeding disagreeable for sons to marry their mother; nor can there be an allusion to such an incestuous practice; rather it should be rendered, "as a young man hath a virgin, thy sons shall have thee" (h); have union to and communion with the church, and share in all the pleasures, privileges, and immunities of it: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee; Christ is the Lord God of his church and people; Immanuel, God with us; and he stands in the relation of a bridegroom to them, and they in the relation of a bride to him; and as such he rejoices over them with exceeding great joy, and that to do them good; so he rejoiced over them from all eternity, when first betrothed to him; and so he does in time, in redemption: this was the joy set before him, which animated him to bear the cross, and despise the shame of it; namely, that those would be redeemed, and saved by him, and brought to glory; he rejoices at the conversion of them, and will present them to himself with joy in the spiritual and personal reign, and to his Father at the last day; and particularly, what is meant here, there will be such a profusion of blessings on the church in the latter day, as will abundantly show the joy of Christ in his people. (g) , , Sept.; "

For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons {g} marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. (g) As they confess one faith and religion with you, they are in the same bond of marriage with you, and they are called the children of the Church, as Christ makes her plentiful to bring forth children to him.

As a young man marrieth a virgin: this is delivered as a demonstration of what was said in the close of the 4th verse; and it is said young and virgin to note their suitableness; not old and young , but such as may delight each in other, signifying that mutual content that would be in all parties; thus it was at the first preaching of the gospel, Acts 2:41-47 . So shall thy sons marry thee. Whereas it is improbable that the Spirit of God should carry on so sacred a prophecy by a similitude so abhorrent to nature, the Song of Solomon should marry the mother , the scruple is easily satisfied by taking the word in its right signification, to possess , as in the foregoing verse, reading it thus, As a young man marrieth or possesseth a virgin, so shall thy land be inhabited or possessed by thy sons; they shall dwell with thee as a man dwells with his wife; and thus the LXX. And it is said sons , to distinguish them from strangers, by whom she should not any longer be inhabited, but by her own natives; and expressed by marrying , to signify not only their unity of affection in the evenness of their living, but of faith in their common profession, called the common faith , Titus 1:4 , according to which Paul calls Titus his son. As the bridegroom rejoiceth, taketh delight in her; so shall thy God, viz. Christ, God and man, in thee: see Isaiah 62:4 . Christ is often called a bridegroom , and his church a bride, 2 Corinthians 11:2 Revelation 21:2,9 .

5. thy sons—rather, changing the points, which are of no authority in Hebrew, "thy builder" or "restorer," that is, God; for in the parallel clause, and in Isa 62:4, God is implied as being "married" to her; whereas her "sons" could hardly be said to marry their mother; and in Isa 49:18, they are said to be her bridal ornaments, not her husband. The plural form, builders, is used of God in reverence as "husbands" (see on [865]Isa 54:5). over the bride—in the possession of the bride (Isa 65:19; Jer 32:41; Zep 3:17).

5 . so shall thy sons marry thee ] The harshness of the conception is obvious; and it is hardly relieved by pointing to the double meaning of the verb bâ‘al (“marry” and “possess”). Lowth and others, by a slight emendation of the text, read “so shall thy Builder (Jehovah) marry thee.” (So Cheyne, who refers to Psalm 147:2 : “Jehovah is the builder up of Jerusalem.”) See on Isaiah 49:17 .

Verse 5. - As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride . There is a double employment of the analogy with marriage here. The land, Judaea, personified as a female, is married to her sons, or her people, regarded (in this connection) as a male. The people, regarded as a female ("the virgin daughter of Zion," Isaiah 37:22 ) is also married to Jehovah, and recognizes him as her Bridegroom (Comp. Isaiah 54:5 ). As Bridegroom, God calls his bride "Hephzi-bah" - "my delight is in her." Isaiah 62:5

(5) So shall thy sons marry thee . . . —The image of the bride is presented under another aspect. The people of a country are, in their collective unity, as the bridegroom, and the country is as the bride. They are bound, as the husband is to the wife, to cherish and protect it, to be ready to live and die for it.

For as a young man marrieth a virgin - Roberts remarks on this, 'In general no youth marries a widow. Such a thing I scarcely ever heard of (in India), nor will it ever be except under some very extraordinary circumstances, as in the case of a queen, princess, or great heiress. Even widowers also, if possible, always marry virgins.' The idea here is, that Yahweh would have delight in his people, which would be properly represented by the affection which a young man has for his bride. So shall thy sons marry thee - Lowth renders this, 'So shall thy restorer wed thee.' He supposes that the word rendered in our common version, 'thy sons' (בניך bânâyı̂k), should be pointed בניך bonayı̂k, as a participle from בנה bânâh, 'to build,' rather than from בן bên, 'a son.' The parallelism requires some such construction as this; and the unusual form of expression, 'thy sons shall be wedded to thee,' seems also to demand it. The Septuagint renders it, 'As a young man cohabits (συνοικῶν sunoikōn) with a virgin (bride, παρθένῳ parthenō), so shall thy, sons dwell with thee (κατοικήσουσιν οἱ υἱοί σου katoikēsousin hoi huioi sou). So the Chaldee. the conjecture of Lowth has been adopted by Koppe and Doderlin. Rosenmuller supposes that there is here a mingling or confusion of figures, and that the idea is, that her sons should possess her - an idea which is frequently conveyed by the word בעל Ba‛al, which is used here.

To me it seems that there is much force in the conjecture of Lowth, and that the reference is to God as the 'builder,' or the restorer of Jerusalem, and that the sense is that he would be 'married,' or tenderly and indissolubly united to her. If it be objected that the word is in the 'plural (בניך bonayı̂k) it may be observed thai the word commonly applied to God (אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym) is also plural, and that an expression remarkably similar to the one before us occurs in Isaiah 54:5, 'For thy Maker is thy husband' (Hebrew, בעליך bo‛ălayk, 'Thy husbands.') It is not uncommon to use a plural noun when speaking of God. It should be remembered that the points in the Hebrew are of no authority, and that all the change demanded here is in them. And as the bridegroom - Margin, as in Hebrew,' With the joy of the bridegroom.' Over the bride - In the possession of the bride - probably the most tender joy which results from the exercise of the social affections.