1. Go and buy food without silver. The water, food, milk, and wine are all metaphorical. What the metaphors suggest is that God’s beneficence to His people will be unstinting and freely given with no price exacted for it. The Hebrew kesef is translated as “silver,” not “money” as in other versions, because coins were not yet in general usage, and the use of the verb “weigh out” for “silver” in the next verse clearly indicates that what is imagined is silver weights. There is some question about the relation of this chapter to the fifteen preceding chapters of Second Isaiah. Joseph Blenkinsopp thinks that it is by a different hand and that it is intended as a bridge to the rest of the book, which, at least according to scholarly consensus, is the work of still another prophet. The evidence, however, is somewhat tenuous: the supposed stylistic differences of this chapter from the earlier ones are by no means clear-cut, and the claimed affinities with the Book of Proverbs are debatable.

3. the faithful kindness shown to David. The Hebrew says merely “the faithful kindness of David,” but the clear sense is the faithful kindness, or staunch commitment to the divine promise, that God has shown to David. The poet is not necessarily speaking of a revival of the Davidic dynasty but is invoking God’s commitment to David and his descendants as a model for how He remains committed to His exiled people.

4. witness to the peoples, / prince and commander of the peoples. This would have to be a reference to David’s military dominance, his success in establishing a mini-empire (which biblical writers tend to exaggerate). As David was once a triumphant leader of the nation, Israel will again be triumphant. That notion is perfectly in keeping with the previous prophecies of a restored Israel to which kings and princes will be subservient. This idea is continued in the next verse, where nations from afar run to do Israel’s bidding.

6. Seek the LORD where He is found. That is, you may have imagined that God was distant, hiding His face from you, but He is there close by, if only you seek Him.

10. For as the rain comes down upon earth / and the snow from the heavens. The metaphor elaborated in this verse and then carried on to its referent in the next implies two ideas at once: just as the rain and snow cannot be turned back to the sky from which they come, God’s pronouncements, once issued, cannot be reversed; but the rain and the snow fructify the earth, irrigating it so that it can yield life-sustaining produce, and in this prophecy of restoration, the word God issues is a word of bountifulness, with an effect like the rains of blessing, making things “prosper.”

12. For in joy shall you go out. The going out clearly refers to going out from exile. This entire verse, with the mountains and hills bursting forth in song, as well as the initial poetic line of the next verse, is quite in keeping with earlier prophecies by Second Isaiah of a jubilant return to Zion.

13. a testimony for the LORD. The literal meaning of the noun used here is “name.” The idea is that Israel’s grand restoration will be a visible manifestation to all the nations of God’s power and His loyalty to Israel.

a perpetual sign that shall not be cut off. Once the people of Israel is again firmly established in Zion, there will be no further threats to the well-being of the nation, and this very continuity will bear lasting witness to God’s greatness.