Isaiah 35:1

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 35:1-4

In these verses we have, I. The desert land blooming. In the foregoing chapter we had a populous and fruitful country turned into a horrid wilderness; here we have in lieu of that, a wilderness turned into a good land. When the land of Judah was freed from the Assyrian army, those parts of the country that had been made as a wilderness by the ravages and outrages they committed began to recover themselves, and to look pleasantly again, and to blossom as the rose. When the Gentile nations, that... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 35:1

The wilderness, and the solitary place, shall be glad for them ,.... Either for the wild beasts, satyrs, owls, and vultures, that shall inhabit Edom or Rome, and because it shall be an habitation for them: or they shall be glad for them, the Edomites, and for the destruction of them; that is, as the Targum paraphrases it, "they that dwell in the wilderness, in the dry land, shall rejoice;' the church, in the wilderness, being obliged to fly there from the persecution of antichrist, and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 35:1

Shall be glad - יששום yesusum ; in one MS. the מ mem seems to have been added; and שום sum is upon a rasure in another. None of the ancient versions acknowledge it; it seems to have been a mistake, arising from the next word beginning with the same letter. Seventeen MSS. have ישושום yesusum , both vaus expressed; and five MSS. יששם yesusum , without the vaus . Probably the true reading is, "The wilderness and the dry place shall be glad. "Not for them. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 35:1

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them ; rather, the wilderness , and the dry place , shall be glad . The Church, that has been long wasted and kept under by the wicked, shall, at their destruction, feel a sense of relief, and so of joy. The desert shall rejoice, and blossom. The first result of the joy shall be a putting forth of lovely products. Blossoms, beautiful as the rose or the narcissus (Kay), shall spring up all over the parched ground, and make it... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 35:1-2

Changed circumstances following the return of Divine favor. This, which is expressed in the figures of these verses, may be further illustrated by the experience of David. His "bones waxed old through his roaring all the day long," while God hid his face from him. He sang again the old songs when God "restored unto him the joy of his salvation." "In contrast to the ruin of Edom, the prophet now describes Israel's triumphant march home through the blossoming wilderness" (Matthew Arnold). Two... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 35:1-7

Transformation by the truth. Accepting these words as Messianic in their scope, we may treat them as descriptive of that most blessed transformation which is effected, in the individual man and in the nation, by the gospel When the truth of Christ is made efficacious by the Spirit of God, and has had time to work out its true results, there will be found— I. ILLUMINATION OF THE UNDERSTANDING . " The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 35:1-10

THE GLORY OF THE LAST TIMES . On the punishment of God's enemies will follow the peace, prosperity, and glory of his Church. Previously, the Church is in affliction, waste, and desolate. Its enemies once removed, destroyed, swept out of the way, it rises instantly in all its beauty to a condition which words are poor to paint. The highest resources of the poetic art are called in to give some idea of the glory and happiness of the final Church of the redeemed. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 35:1-10

The glory of the Church not temporal greatness, but spiritual perfection Amid the wealth of metaphor which Isaiah employs to depict the final prosperity, glory, and happiness of the Church, it is remarkable how little use is made of any images drawn from the conditions or circumstances of earthly grandeur. Images of natural beauty are principally employed—the shady forest, the spreading cedar tree, the rich luxuriance of arable and pasture land, the choice beauty of the most lovely among... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 35:1-10

Glories of the Messianic age. This is a picture of the happy and glorious condition of Israel after the return from Captivity. Nature is beheld rejoicing with man; and the whole scene is suffused with the light of a universal spiritual joy. I. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE NATURAL WORLD . The desert will rejoice "like the narcissus," the beautiful white flower found in abundance in spring-time in the Plain of Sharon. A ringing musical cry shall break out from those solitudes. The... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 35:1

The wilderness and the solitary place - This is evidently figurative language, such as is often employed by the prophets. The word rendered ‘solitary place’ (ציה tsı̂yâh), denotes properly a dry place, a place without springs and streams of water; and as such places produce no verdure, and nothing to sustain life, the word comes to mean a desert. Such expressions are often used in the Scriptures to express moral or spiritual desolation; and in this sense evidently the phrase is used here. It... read more

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