Touched by the Sun, She Becomes a Sun

Isaiah's prophecy presents a remarkable correspondence that Maclaren renders with precision: Zion, once a mourning captive prostrate in darkness, receives the Glory of the Lord—that ancient brightness that dwelt between the cherubim in the secret place of the Most High. This is no internal illumination alone. The prophet employs a single Hebrew root for both 'shine' and 'light,' creating a deliberate echo: 'thy light' appears twice—once meaning the light that shines upon thee, once meaning the light that shines from thee.…