Abstract
Who is the husband of Zion in Isaiah 62:5? English modern translations are divided into three different primary readings: ‘your builder’ or ‘God’, ‘your builders’ or ‘foreigners’, and ‘your sons’. This article will weigh on each translation with textual criticism as its tool to seek out this answer.
Modern Translations are divided on the identity of Zion’s husband. Good News Translations, NRSV, and Coverdale Bible of 1535, for instance, seem to choose ‘builder’, which refers to God himself as the husband. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) also mentions the possibility of ‘builder’ as ‘God’ in its apparatus (Elliger and Rudolph 1997: 771). The reason for the ‘builder’ translation is that Leviticus 18:7-8 mentions that it is inappropriate for sons to marry their own mother. Therefore, these translations choose the builder as God who marries his people with Psalms 147:2 as its reference. Below is the list of Bibles which translates as a ‘builder’.
Good News Translations: Like a young man taking a virgin as his bride, He who formed you will marry you. As a groom is delighted with his bride. So, your God will delight in you.
NRSV: For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder[a] marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
Coverdale Bible of 1535: And like as yonge ma taketh a doughter to mariage, so shal God mary himself vnto yi sonnes. And as a brydegrome is glad of his bryde, so shal God reioyse ouer the.
On the other hand, Young’s literal translation and Literal Standard Version have the reading of ‘builders’ which could refer to ‘the foreigners’ in Isaiah 60:10 and 61:4. The usage of plural form is rooted from a variant of a consonantal text bnyk from the verb bnh or to build. Below are the list of Bibles which translates as a ‘builders.’
Young’s Literal Translation: For a young man doth marry a virgin, Thy Builders do marry thee, with the joy of a bridegroom over a bride, Rejoice over thee doth thy God.
Literal Standard Version: For a young man marries a virgin, your builders marry you, with the joy of a bridegroom over a bride, your God rejoices over you.
The third reading is employed by most English translations. Amplified Bible, Berean Study Bible, ASV, NASB, NIV, ESV, King James Bible, Smith’s Literal Translation, World English Bible, Douay-Rheims Bible, and Catholic Public Domain Version have ‘sons’ translation. This reading is derived from another variant of a consonantal text bnyk from the noun bn or son.
Thus, the question is: who is the husband of Zion in Isaiah 62:5? Is it God (your builder), or the foreigners (your builders), or Zion’s own sons? This article, therefore, will analyze those readings in the light of textual criticism of the ancient translations to seek out this answer.
The List of Ancient Translations
Translation: For young man will marry with a virgin. Your sons will marry (or dwell in) you and the rejoicing of bridegroom over the bride. So, your God will rejoice over you.
Translation: For young man will marry with a virgin. Your sons (or your builders) will marry (or dwell in) you and the rejoicing of bridegroom over the bride. So, your God will rejoice over you.
Translation: For young man will marry with a virgin. Your sons (or your builders) will marry (or dwell in) you and the rejoicing of bridegroom over the bride. So, your God will rejoice over you.
Translation: And as a young man lives with a virgin, so your sons shall dwell in you; and it shall come to pass that as a bridegroom will rejoice over a bride; so, the Lord will rejoice over you.
Translation: For as a youth virgin, thus will your sons marry you and as the bridegroom rejoices in the bride, your God will rejoice in you.
Translation: For just as a young man cohabits with a virgin, so shall your sons coinhabit in your midst, and just as the bridegroom rejoices with the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
Translation: For as a young man will dwell (live) with a virgin, so your sons will dwell (live) you: and as the bridegroom rejoice over the bride, your God shall rejoice over you.
Summary of the Readings: “your builder”, “your builders”, and ‘Your Sons’
The list above reveals that “your builder” or ‘God’ is not attested in ancient translations. Most ancient translations like Codex Leningradensis, Septuagint, Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate, translate as ‘your sons’. However, 1QIsaa and 1QIsab, could be translated as “your builders” as well due to a pure consonantal text. Although Codex Leningradensis has ‘your sons’, editors of BHS propose another reading of ‘your sons’ with a reference to Psalm 147:2.
The external evidence offers three primary pieces of information. First, the reading of “your builder” or ‘bnh’ in BHS’ apparatus, Good News Translations, NRSV, and Coverdale Bible of 1535 is not attested in the ancient manuscripts. As a result, the translation of “your builder” or ‘your God’ is not the intended reading. Second, a pure consonantal text of bnyk could be read as ‘your sons’ or “your builders” (cf. 1QIsaa and 1QIsab). Thus, the external evidence supports the reading of ‘your sons’.
Internal Evidence
The reading of “your builder”
Arguments
The first argument is that the reading of “your builder” seems to solve the incestuous sexual problem in the text: ‘your sons will marry you’. Leviticus 18-20 consists of the most comprehensive list of sexual prohibitions in the Old Testament. In terms of sexual desire with the mother, Leviticus 18:7-8 says, “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness,” (NASB). Deuteronomy 27:2 also goes against the idea of incestuous relationships (Chia 2001: 1-4; Niskanen 2015: 657-667). Therefore, BHS’s apparatus proposes the reading “your builder” with Psalm 147:2 as its reference: “the LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel.”
The second argument is of parallelism. The first proponent, Lowth, proposes a parallelism argument from Isaiah 54:5. Since YHWH’s status as his people’s husband is mentioned in Isaiah 54:5, then YHWH is the one who will marry Zion in Isaiah 62:5. As a result, Lowth reads bnyk as a verbal form to match the plural participle form in Isaiah 54:5 and emends it to byk or “your builder”. Lowth believes that the verbal form in Isaiah 62:5 would have been misread here due to the Masoretic pointing system (Lowth 1778: 618-619). While Lowth uses Isaiah 54:5 to support his emendation, Duhm and Marti change the verbal form to y‛blk. The translation, therefore, is the same with Lowth’s proposal: your builder will marry you (Duhm 1902: 418; Marti 1900: 389; Barthélemy 1986: 428-429). Two other proponents, McKenzie and Whybray, support the reading of “your builder” because it has the advantage of making verse 62:5b entirely parallel to verse 62:5a (McKenzie 1968: 185; Whybray 1990: 389). Below is the list of parallelism by McKenzie and Whybray.
62:5a: Because a young man will marry a virgin, “your builder” (emendation) will marry you. 62:5b: And the rejoice of the bridegroom over the bride, Your God will rejoice over you. Then, the comparisons are between young man virgin – the bridge over the bride and “your builder” (emendation) will marry you – Over you your God.
The third argument is the usage of the metaphor of marriage. Westermann finds that quite a large number of Old Testament passages use the metaphor of marriage to describe a relationship with God. The subject is always God and his partner is always a community and never an individual (Westermann 1969: 376). Therefore, he supports the reading of “your builder” because the metaphor of marriage depicts the relationship between God and his people.
As a result, these corrections influence modern English translations such as NJB, NAB, NRSV, GNB, NEB, REB.
NJB: Your rebuilder will wed you.
NAB: Your Builder shall marry you
NRSV: So, shall your builder marry you
GNB: He who formed you will marry you
NEB: So, you shall wed him who rebuilds you
REB: So, will you be wedded to him who rebuilds you
Evaluations
The first evaluation is a difficult reading. The reading of “your builder” might not be the original because of the tendency of alleviating the difficulty of the text. As Barthélemy mentions, a difficult reading in the Masoretic text is occasionally abandoned by modern translations in favor of a reading obtained by a conjectural emendation (Barthélemy 2012: 92).
The second evaluation is of the incestuous sexual problem in the text. This evaluation will be discussed in the section on the reading of ‘your sons’.
The third evaluation is of a parallelism argument. Isaiah 54:5-6 says, “For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth”. Lowth mentions that these verses declare a marital relationship between God and Israel. However, the immediate context of Isaiah 62 seems to disapprove this idea. Isaiah 62:1-5 argues for Zion’s restoration related to her status among the nations and her land. Zion’s righteousness, salvation, glory, and beauty will be witnessed by other nations (62:1-3). Her land will not be forsaken and desolated anymore because God delights in her (62:4-5). In other words, Isaiah 62:4-5 does not discuss a restoration of relationship between God and Zion, but a restoration of land.
Additionally, in response to McKenzie and Whybray, we should examine verse 4 and verse 5 together. The structure of Isaiah 62:4-5 has two main ideas: the result and the causal. It begins with describes the result of Zion’s restoration, “It will not be said to you again, deserted. And to your land, it will not be again desolated.” (62:4a). Afterwards, Isaiah 62:4b-5 discuss two reasons which cause the result: emotional and marital relationship. These reasons are which are always marked by causal conjunction ‘for’. Why will Zion not be deserted again? Because God delights in her (emotional relationship) and the land will be married (marital relationship). Why will Zion not be desolated again? Because your sons will marry you as a young man marries a virgin (marital relationship) and God will rejoice upon Zion just as the joy of bridegroom upon the bride (emotional relationship).
These reasons are presented in parallelism. Isaiah 62:4b starts with emotional relationship, then a marital relationship. Verse 5, however, reversed this structure. In other words, this verse begins with marital relationship, then an emotional relationship. Therefore, Mc Kenzie and Whybray incorrectly parallels Isaiah 62:5a with 62:5b because this whole verse is a parallel to Isaiah 62:4. Verse 5 should be understood and interpreted within verse 4 and vice versa. Isaiah 62:4-5 figuratively depicts the joyful and populous land of Zion through marital relationship. Niskanen (2015: 657-667) also reads that verse 5 depicts the festivity and joy of God’s people return to Jerusalem in a great wedding procession. Baker and Walton see that the marriage of the land will ensure the protection and providence for it (Baker and Walton 2009: 430). This idea is found in an Amarna proverb employed by Rib-Hadda, “for lack of a cultivator, my field is like a woman without a husband” (Moran 1992: 143, 145, 151). Akkadian gods marry a king, as when an Old Akkadian king is called as husband of Ishtar (Gelb and Streck 1956: 314), or when the same goddess cries to Gilgamesh, “you can be my husband and I can be your wife” (Dalley 1991: 297-298).
The reading of “your builders”
Arguments
The reading of “your builders” is derived from a variant of a pure consonantal text of bnyk: bnh as a verb. Thus, the first two vowels are holem – patah. This reading might be the safest one for a couple of reasons.
First, the reading of “your builders” avoids the incestuous sexual problem in the text just as the reading of “your builder”.
Second, it resolves the external evidence’s problem because bnk or your builder is not attested in ancient manuscripts. In other words, the reading of “your builders” maintains yod of a pure consonantal text of bnyk. Who are these builders? From the context, Isaiah 60:10 and 61:4 denotes that foreigners will build up or bnh Jerusalem.
Evaluations
This reading, however, has two primary problems. First, it alleviates the difficult reading of the text: the incestuous sexual problem in the MT. Second, although Isaiah 60:10 declares that the foreigners will build up Jerusalem’s wall, they will build not as a husband, but a servant. As Isa. 60:10 says, “and their kings will serve you.” Isaiah 61:4, furthermore, says that these foreigners will rebuild the ancient runs, raise up the former devastations, repair the ruined cities, and the desolations of many generations, but they will be a worker of God’s people. As Isaiah 61:5 continues, “the strangers will stand, and pasture God’s people flocks and the foreigners will be their famers and vinedressers.” Third, bnyk as ‘your builders’ only appears once in the Hebrew Bible (Ez. 27:4), while a pure consonantal text of bnyk occur as ‘your sons’ 44 times (Chia and Juanda 2019: 8-13).
The reading of “your sons”
Arguments
The reading of “your sons” is derived from a variant of a pure consonantal text of bnyk: bn or your son as a noun. Therefore, the first two vowels are qames – qames. This reading is the most probable for three reasons.
First is the argument of a difficult reading. As Barthélemy states, when a text was relatively difficult, ancient scribes and translators tended to simplify the text through lexical, grammatical, and stylistic forms known as “facilitating.” It means that the more difficult text may be considered as the original (Barthélemy 2012: 90). The reading of “your sons” is definitely a harder reading because it carries the incestuous sexual problem in the text.
Second, the argument from a lexical analysis. As it is mentioned above that bnyk occurs 45 times in the Hebrew bible: one time as ‘your builders’ in (Ez. 27:4), while 44 times as “your sons”. In the book of Isaiah, a pure consonantal text of bnyk appears nine times (49:17, 22, 25; 51:20; 54:13 (two times); 60:4, 9; 62:5). All these occurrences refer to “your sons”. Therefore, it is fair to say that the reading of Isaiah 62:5 follows the rest of the verses.
Third, a contextual argument. The promise of descendants possessing the land resonates in the book of Isaiah (Isa. 14:1; 49:20; 54:3; 60:4, 9, 21-22). Zion’s descendants will work the land and gain profit from it as it is described in Isaiah 62:9 (Chia and Juanda 2019: 8-13).
Evaluations
This reading, nevertheless, has the incestuous sexual problem. The question, then, how are we to solve this problem? Two possible interpretations have been proposed.
First proposal
First is the identity of “your sons” and ‘you’. Ephrem the Syrian interprets this marriage is between Christ and his people. Ephesians 5:23 refers sons to the apostles, the priests, and the righteous ones of the church, who constitute the head of the body of the church, as the husband is the head of a woman. Therefore, Ephrem the Syrian believes that this marriage is like a husband to the church through its doctrine and constantly generate spiritual sons to it (Lamy 1882-1902: 2:185). Eusebius of Caesarea also understands this marriage in the light of Christ and church. He says that this marriage will happen in the new age of the kingdom of Christ. The Lord himself shall receive his bride and establish the holy church from the mature members of the former people and from the new people of the gentiles (Elowsky 2013: 301).
The assessment to the first proposal
The problem of this identification is the text does not refer to Christ or the church. In other words, the language of Isaiah 62 does not allow the restoration of Zion in a spiritual sense or Christologically. The interpretation of Ephrem the Syrian also cannot be maintained because of his analogy: “your sons” with ‘the body of the church’ and ‘you’ with ‘Christ’. Although the New Testament argues for a Christ that marries his people (Matthew 9:15, 22:2; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35; John 3:29; Revelation 19:7-9), Isaiah 62:5 uses ‘you’ in a feminine gender which makes the analogy to Christ is questionable.
Second proposal
The second proposal comes from the verb y‛blk. The primary meaning of b‛l is ‘to possess’ or ‘to dwell’ and it is also related to ‘wife’ in Hebrew (Brown, et al., 1952: 127). Oswalt, the proponent of ‘to possess’ or ‘to dwell’, uses Judges 9:2 as its reference: “Speak, now, in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am your bone and your flesh.” Thus, Oswalt argues for the priority of relationship as a dweller or possessor of the land more so than a status as a husband. Oswalt also understands the name of the land b‛wlh in Isaiah 65:4 as ‘belongs to’ or ‘dwell with’ instead of ‘married’: “It will no longer be said to you, ‘Forsaken’, Nor to your land will it any longer be said, ‘Desolate’; But you will be called, ‘My delight is in her’, And your land, ‘Married’; For the LORD delights in you, And to Him your land will be married”. Oswalt believes that the relational aspect is important to Isaiah. It is not merely that the land will be re-inhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of belonging. This emphasis on relationship seems to be the reason of ‘to possess’ or ‘to dwell in’ reading (Oswalt 1998: 579). Therefore, Oswalt concludes that the reading ‘to dwell in’ makes more sense in the context than ‘married’. In other words, ‘your sons will dwell in you’ has a better sense than ‘your sons will marry you’. His proposal is also supported by ancient translations such as Septuagint, Targum, and Vulgate. Septuagint translates ‘your sons will dwell’, Targum has ‘your sons co-inhabit’, and Vulgate understand it as ‘your sons will inhabit’.
However, how do ancient translations translate yb‛lwk? Below is the list of ancient translations:
Codex Leningradensis: Your sons will dwell in (or marry)
1QIsaa: Your sons (or Your builders) will dwell in (or marry)
1QIsab: Your sons (or Your builders) will dwell in (or marry)
Septuagint: Your sons will dwell
Peshitta: Your sons will have a sexual intercourse
Targum: Your sons co-inhabit
Vulgate: Your sons will inhabit
The list of ancient texts above reveals a few new pieces of information. First, the Hebrew word yb‛lwk could be translated as either ‘to dwell in’ or ‘to marry’. Second, the reading of Codex Leningradensis, 1QIsaa, and 1QIsab could be understood either as ‘to dwell in’ or ‘to marry’. Third, the three translations above (LXX, Targum, and Vulgate) choose ‘to dwell in’ just as Oswalt’s reading proposal. Fourth, Syriac Peshitta is the only translation which has ‘to marry’ or ‘to have a sexual intercourse’.
The assessment to the second proposal.
There are two primary problems of this reading. The first is a contextual problem. Isaiah 62:5a says, “for (as) a young man yb‛lwk a virgin.” If Oswalt maintains ‘to possess’ or ‘to dwell in’ as the translation, then the emphasis of a relationship would be lost. It would be an incomprehensible reading if a young man dwells in a virgin. On the other hand, it would be an inappropriate relationship if a young man possesses a virgin. The second problem is a parallelism in verse 4. The idea of Isaiah 62:4 communicates that Zion has a company or she is not alone anymore. Therefore, the translation of ‘marry’ makes more sense both in verse 4 and 5.
Who is Zion’s husband in Isaiah 62:5? External evidence strongly favors the reading of “your sons” over “your builders” or “your builder” because the reading of “your sons” is supported by ancient translations.
My proposal
This article understands “your sons marry you” meta-phorically for a couple of reasons. First, Isaiah 62:5 uses metaphors to communicate the joyful and populous Zion through marriage descriptions: ‘for (as) a young man marries a virgin’ and ‘and the rejoice of the bridegroom over the bride’. Then, we could understand “your sons marry you” metaphorically. This metaphor communicates that Zion will be filled with her inhabitants (Isa. 14:1; 49:20; 54:3; 60:4, 9, 21-22). Niskanen (2015: 657-667) sees that Isaiah 62:5 as the vehicle of the development of metaphor. It starts with a young man and virgin enter into marriage. Then, a bridegroom and bride rejoice and celebrate their marriage. It starts with the procession or the exiled children of Zion that fill Jerusalem (5a), then the imagery evolves into a consummation of this wedding which described in wedding response such as ‘celebration’ and ‘rejoicing’ to their restoration (cf Chia 2021: 1-4). Some scholars, such as Waard, Delitzsch, and Beuken, support this interpretation (Waard 1997:208; Delitzsch 1889: 592; Beuken, 1986-1989: 229-230). Also, as the article has pointed out, Isaiah 62:5 is presented in parallelism. The exultation of the bridegroom over a bride is parallel to God’s rejoice over Zion and the marriage of a young man with a young woman, therefore, should be paralleled to the marriage of Zion with your sons.
Conclusion
Who is Zion’s husband in Isaiah 62:5? External evidence strongly favors the reading of “your sons” over “your builders” or “your builder” because the reading of “your sons” is supported by ancient translations. The internal evidence also endorses the reading of “your sons”. The arguments from a difficult reading, a lexical analysis, a contextual analysis, and the parallelism in Isaiah 62:5 support the reading of “your sons.” Yet, the reading of “your sons” has the incestuous sexual problem, as Leviticus 18:7-8 mentions that it is inappropriate for sons to marry their own mother. However, this article proposes that “your sons marry you” should be read metaphorically to depict the joyful and populous Zion through marriage descriptions.