Zion sacrificed

Isaiah 4:4 promises that Yahweh will wash the filth and purge the blood from the daughters of Zion and from the midst of Jerusalem. The initial part of the sentence is chiastically structured:

A. When Yahweh has washed

B. filth of daughters of Zion

B’. and blood of Jerusalem

A’. has purged from her midst

The verse pulses with sacrificial imagery. Sacrifices were washed and purged (see the use of the verb duach in 2 Chronicles 4:6 and Ezekiel 40:38) before being consecrated to Yahweh and turned to smoke, and especially the “inner parts” were washed ( qerev , the same word used here for “midst”). What has to be cleansed is “filth,” a word sometimes used for “shit” (as in the Rabshakeh’s speech during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem). Once the inner parts of Jerusalem are washed from filth and blood, the city is prepared for sacrifice. Then she shall be called “holy” (v. 3). Then the daughters of Zion are suitable “bridal food” on Yahweh’s altar. Then she is ready for burning in the Spirit.