Yesaya 1:8

1:8 Daughter Zion ¹  is left isolated,

like a hut in a vineyard,

or a shelter in a cucumber field;

she is a besieged city. ² 

Yesaya 10:32

10:32 This very day, standing in Nob,

they shake their fist at Daughter Zion’s mountain ³  –

at the hill of Jerusalem.

Yesaya 62:11

62:11 Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: ⁴ 

“Say to Daughter Zion,

‘Look, your deliverer comes!

Look, his reward is with him

and his reward goes before him!’” ⁵ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “daughter of Zion” (so KJV, NASB, NIV). The genitive is appositional, identifying precisely which daughter is in view. By picturing Zion as a daughter, the prophet emphasizes her helplessness and vulnerability before the enemy.

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “like a city besieged.” Unlike the preceding two comparisons, which are purely metaphorical, this third one identifies the reality of Israel’s condition. In this case the comparative preposition, as in v. 7b, has the force, “in every way like,” indicating that all the earmarks of a siege are visible because that is indeed what is taking place. The verb form in MT is Qal passive participle of נָצַר (natsar, “guard”), but since this verb is not often used of a siege (see BDB 666 s.v. I נָצַר), some prefer to repoint the form as a Niphal participle from II צוּר (tsur, “besiege”). However, the latter is not attested elsewhere in the Niphal (see BDB 848 s.v. II צוּר).

[10:32]  ³ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has “a mountain of a house (בֵּית, bet), Zion,” but the marginal reading (Qere) correctly reads “the mountain of the daughter (בַּת, bat) of Zion.” On the phrase “Daughter Zion,” see the note on the same phrase in 1:8.

[62:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so NASB, NRSV).

[62:11]  ⁵ sn As v. 12 indicates, the returning exiles are the Lord’s reward/prize. See also 40:10 and the note there.