Daughter, Bride, and Mother
Personifications · 6 verses
Jerusalem is personified throughout Scripture in profoundly personal terms. She is 'the daughter of Zion'—sometimes rejoicing, sometimes weeping in desolation. Isaiah calls her to 'Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion.' She is portrayed as a barren woman who will bear more children than the married wife. Lamentations presents her as a widow weeping in the night, with tears on her cheeks. Yet she is also the bride adorned for her husband, the mother of all who are born of the Spirit. Paul declares that 'Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.' Revelation climaxes with the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God as a bride adorned for her husband. The personification spans from mourning widow to glorified bride.
Scripture References
“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”
“How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her.”
“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.”
“But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”