Isaiah 12 Study Notes

12:1 On that day points to a future date. That date is unspecified, but it is a day that will certainly come. Up to this point in the text, the phrase has been used in reference to the coming judgment (2:20; 3:18; 4:1; 7:18,20-21,23), but now it points to the time after the storm, the time of salvation.

12:2 The Lord, the Lord himself translates (Hb) Yah, Yahweh, which are the short form and the full form of God’s personal covenant name (Ex 3:14-16).

12:3 In a relatively dry land like Israel, water and the refreshment it brings was an apt image for salvation. The picture of water bubbling up in a spring evokes freshness and abundance.

12:4 The praise of God serves as a testimony not just within God’s people, but also to the nations. They were also recipients of God’s blessing through Abraham’s descendants (Gn 12:1-13).