Below, I reproduce Isaiah 60 followed by notes on the Isaiah passage quoted.
Am I alone to find a mismatch between the profound spirituality of the passage and the crass mundane interpretation of it in the footnotes? Does the promise "Your sun shall no more go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended." has anything to do with the mineral-laden Dead Sea? Can the supposedly 4 times the wealth of the United States locked in the chemicals bestow on anyone the promise highlighted in blue above (Isaiah 60.20)?
Or, being a dullard, am I not able to piece together the meaning of the verse?
Can anyone explain, please? Thanks in advance.
Am I alone to find a mismatch between the profound spirituality of the passage and the crass mundane interpretation of it in the footnotes? Does the promise "Your sun shall no more go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended." has anything to do with the mineral-laden Dead Sea? Can the supposedly 4 times the wealth of the United States locked in the chemicals bestow on anyone the promise highlighted in blue above (Isaiah 60.20)?
Or, being a dullard, am I not able to piece together the meaning of the verse?
Isaiah 60 (Amplified Bible)
1 ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you [O Jerusalem], and His glory shall be seen on you.
3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 Lift up your eyes round about you and see! They all gather themselves together, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried and nursed in the arms.
5 Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and tremble with joy [at the glorious deliverance] and be enlarged; because the abundant wealth of the [Dead] Sea shall be turned to you, unto you shall the nations come with their treasures.
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19 The sun shall no more be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you, but the Lord shall be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory and your beauty.
20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.
Footnotes:
...1 ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you [O Jerusalem], and His glory shall be seen on you.
3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 Lift up your eyes round about you and see! They all gather themselves together, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried and nursed in the arms.
5 Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and tremble with joy [at the glorious deliverance] and be enlarged; because the abundant wealth of the [Dead] Sea shall be turned to you, unto you shall the nations come with their treasures.
----
19 The sun shall no more be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you, but the Lord shall be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory and your beauty.
20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended.
Footnotes:
- Isaiah 60:5 Prior to well into the twentieth century, scholars could only speculate as to what Isaiah might have meant here by "the abundant wealth of the [Dead] Sea" that would one day be turned over to Jerusalem. Of course, the Dead Sea, which for ages had been considered only a place of death and desolation, was ruled out as a possible meaning. Then suddenly it was discovered that the waters of the Dead Sea contain important chemicals. In A.D. 1935 G.T.B. Davis wrote, "One is almost staggered by the computed wealth of the chemical salts of the Dead Sea. It is estimated that the potential value of the potash, bromine, and other chemical salts of its waters is... four times the wealth of the United States!" (G.T.B. Davis, Rebuilding Palestine) Isaiah himself did not know this, but the God who caused the Dead Sea to play a part in His program in the last days knew all about it, and He led the prophet to so prophesy here in this verse.
Can anyone explain, please? Thanks in advance.
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