Isaiah 35
The Desert Blooms in Glory 1–2
Encouragement for the Fearful 3–4
Miraculous Signs of Restoration 5–7
The Way of Holiness and Final Joy 8–10
Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain
Study Notes for Isaiah 35
Verse 1
blossom as the rose — Three words for dry land stand together: midbar, wilderness, tsiyyah, parched land, and aravah, desert. The 'rose' is chavatstseleth, the flower of 'the rose of Sharon' (Song 2:1). The same thought comes in Isa 51:3, where the LORD 'will make her wilderness like Eden', and the glad land answers the ruin of ch.34.
Verse 2
the glory of Lebanon — 'Glory' (kavod) and 'excellency' (hadar) are given to the desert from Lebanon, Carmel and Sharon, the lands named in Isa 33:9, where Lebanon is 'ashamed and hewn down' and Carmel and Bashan 'shake off their fruits'. 'Blossom abundantly' repeats the verb, parach. The desert itself 'shall see the glory of the LORD', as in Isa 40:5, 'all flesh shall see it together'.
Verse 3
Strengthen ye the weak hands — Rapheh is slack or limp, and kashal, 'feeble', is to stumble; the call is for the hands and knees of the discouraged, with chazaq to strengthen and amats to make firm. Hebrews takes it up for believers: 'lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees' (Heb 12:12). Job 4:3–4 uses the same figure of one who 'strengthened the weak hands'.
Verse 4
Be strong, fear not — 'Fearful' is literally 'hasty' (mahar) of heart, the flustered and anxious. The word of comfort is that 'your God will come', as in Isa 40:9–10, 'Behold your God! … the Lord GOD will come with strong hand'. 'Vengeance' (naqam) and 'recompence' (gemul) recall the day of vengeance on Edom (34:8), and the coming ends in 'save you' (yasha).
Verse 5
the eyes of the blind shall be opened — Pacach is to open the eyes, and patach the ears. Christ answers John the Baptist's disciples with the same signs: 'The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk… and the deaf hear' (Matt 11:5). The promise had already been given in Isa 29:18, 'the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see'.
Verse 6
the lame man leap as an hart — Dalag, to leap, and ayyal, a stag. The healed man at the temple gate shows it: 'he leaping up stood, and walked… walking, and leaping, and praising God' (Acts 3:8). The 'dumb' (illem) sing, and Mark records the crowd's verdict on Christ, 'he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak' (Mark 7:37).
Verse 7
the parched ground shall become a pool — Sharav is the shimmering glare of the heat, the mirage, which here becomes a real pool (agam), with 'springs' (mabbua) in the dry land. 'The habitation of dragons' (naveh tannim) is the phrase of Isa 34:13, where the ruined palaces became their haunt; here the same ground is green with 'grass… reeds and rushes'.
Verse 8
The way of holiness — Maslul is a raised, built-up road, and 'holiness' is qodesh. The 'unclean' (tame) cannot pass over it, and even 'fools' (evil) 'shall not err' (taah), for the road is plain. The same figure of a prepared road is in Isa 62:10, 'cast up, cast up the highway', and Acts 9:2 speaks of believers as 'any of this way'.
Verse 9
the redeemed shall walk there — 'Redeemed' is gaal, the kinsman's redemption, the word of Job's 'my redeemer liveth' (Job 19:25). Of the 'lion' (ari) and the 'ravenous beast' (perits, the violent one) none comes up on the road. The peace of the holy mountain is promised the same way in Isa 65:25, 'They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain'.
Verse 10
the ransomed of the LORD shall return — 'Ransomed' is padah, to pay the price and set free, a second word beside the 'redeemed' of v.9. 'Everlasting joy upon their heads' (simchah olam) and 'they shall obtain gladness' (nasag, to overtake) are repeated almost word for word in Isa 51:11. 'Sorrow and sighing shall flee away' is taken up in Rev 21:4, 'neither sorrow, nor crying'.