“Your eyes will see
The king in his beauty.
They will behold
A land that stretches far away.
Your mind will muse on the terror.
‘Where is the one who counted?
Where is the one who weighed the tribute?
Where is the one who counted the towers?’
No longer will you see the insolent people,
The people of an obscure speech,
That you cannot comprehend.
They were stammering
In a tongue
That you cannot understand.
Look upon Zion!
The city of our appointed feasts!
Your eyes will see Jerusalem!
A quiet habitation!
There is an immovable tent
Whose stakes will never be plucked up.
None of its ropes will be broken.”
This is definitely an oracle from the Exile talking about the return to Jerusalem, Mount Zion. This future king will be in his glory in a great expansive land. Then they would remember the terror that they went through. They were counted and had to pay tribute. They had towers to watch over them. Those insolent people spoke to them in an obscure language that they did not understand. They were stammering away, so that no one could comprehend what they were talking about. Now, however, they could look to Mount Zion in Jerusalem where they could have festivals. There they could live in a quiet place with an immovable tent that had good stakes and strong ropes.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 