To Restore the People and the Land: So 49:1–6 is a major turning point. So far the Poet’s focus has been Jacob-Israel. Henceforth it will be Jerusalem-Zion. So far the addressee has been Jacob-Israel. Henceforth it will be Jerusalem-Zion. So far Yahweh’s promise has thus concerned the fall of Babylon and the end of the Judeans’ enforced residence there. Henceforth it will concern the restoring of the city that virtually none of the exiles have ever seen. Once more there is no need to infer that time has moved on or that the people are already back in the city. While that might be so, it is just as plausible to imagine the prophet continuing to exercise a ministry in Babylon. Chapters 49–55 are just as relevant to the people there as are chapters 40–48 to people in Judah.

Further, there is a…