Isaiah 54:1

Isaiah uses the word picture of a ‘woman’ to refer to *Jerusalem and its inhabitants.

• In earlier Chapter s, Isaiah had referred to *Jerusalem as a ‘woman’ that was without the benefit of children. There were several possible reasons why a woman should feel very sad. Her family might be *exiles (see Isaiah 49:21). Or her husband had divorced her (see Isaiah 50:1). Or there was no family to provide for her (see Isaiah 51:18). Or that the woman herself could not have children (see Deuteronomy 7:14).

• But now the situation has completely changed. The ‘much larger family’ refers to a huge increase in the inhabitants of *Jerusalem.