Broken into song

Six times in Isaiah, things “break forth” ( patsach ). The word means “break,” as in breaking bones (Micah 3:3), but in Zion the things broken always sing.

When you compile all the uses in Isaiah, it amounts to a cosmic chorus. The whole earth breaks into song (14:7); heavens, the lower parts of the earth, mountains, forests, and each tree (44:23); heaven and earth, as well as mountains break out in joy (49:13); the ruins of Jerusalem sing (52:9); so does the barren woman (54:1), and the hills and mountains, the trees joining in with clapping (55:12).

When God cracks creation open, it erupts in song.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War

R. R. Reno

What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…

How the State Failed Noelia Castillo

Itxu Díaz

On March 26, Noelia Castillo, a twenty-five-year-old Spanish woman, was killed by her doctors at her own…

The Mind’s Profane and Sacred Loves

Algis Valiunas

The teachers you have make all the difference in your life. That they happened to come into…