Isaiah 35

General context

The wilderness and solitary place will be glad and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose, blossoming abundantly with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon are given to it, and they will see the glory of the Lord. Hearers are told to strengthen weak hands and confirm feeble knees, and to say to the fearful of heart, be strong, fear not, because God will come with vengeance and recompence and will save them. Then the eyes of the blind open, the ears of the deaf are unstopped, the lame man leaps like a hart and the tongue of the dumb sings, because waters break out in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Parched ground becomes a pool and thirsty land springs of water, and where dragons lay there will be grass, reeds and rushes. A highway will be there, called The way of holiness; the unclean will not pass over it, and wayfaring men, though fools, will not err in it. No lion or ravenous beast will go up on it, but the redeemed will walk there. The ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads; they will obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Cited passages: Isaiah 35:1, Isaiah 35:2, Isaiah 35:3, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 35:5, Isaiah 35:6, Isaiah 35:7, Isaiah 35:8, Isaiah 35:9, Isaiah 35:10

Isaiah 35 (KJV)

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Historical context

The chapter names no nation, king or date. Its named places are Lebanon, Carmel, Sharon and Zion, and the wilderness and desert are not located. The first verse says the wilderness will be glad for them, and the text does not say who them are until the last verses call them the redeemed and the ransomed of the Lord; where they return from is not stated. The commands in verses 3 and 4, strengthen, confirm, say, are addressed to an unnamed plural audience. The blind, deaf, lame and dumb of verses 5 and 6 are described as healed when waters break out, and the text does not say whether the healings are literal, or pictures of the desert's change, or both. Chapter 34 has just described a land turned to pitch and given to owls and dragons, and 35:7 uses the same phrase, the habitation of dragons, for ground that now grows reeds. The chapter stands directly before the narrative that begins at 36:1 with the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, but it gives no link to that setting.

Cited passages: Isaiah 35:2, Isaiah 35:1, Isaiah 35:9, Isaiah 35:10, Isaiah 35:3, Isaiah 35:6, Isaiah 34:13, Isaiah 35:7, Isaiah 36:1

Literary context

The chapter reverses chapter 34 at several points. There the land became burning pitch and its streams pitch; here parched ground becomes a pool and streams run in the desert. There dragons and owls possessed the ruin; here their habitation grows grass and reeds, and no ravenous beast walks the highway. In 33:9 Lebanon, Sharon and Carmel were ashamed and shaken; here their glory is given to the desert. The poem moves from land to people to road. Verses 3 and 4 are commands to speak strength to the fearful, and the word then in verses 5 and 6 makes the healings follow God's coming. Bodily images pair with landscape images: weak hands and feeble knees, then blind eyes, deaf ears, lame legs and dumb tongues, set beside springs, pools and a highway. The road is defined by exclusions, no unclean, no fool erring, no lion, and one inclusion, the redeemed. The final verse gathers the chapter's joy words, songs, everlasting joy, joy and gladness, and ends with sorrow and sighing driven away, which closes the poetic section before the prose of chapter 36.

Cited passages: Isaiah 34:9, Isaiah 35:7, Isaiah 35:9, Isaiah 33:9, Isaiah 35:2, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 35:5, Isaiah 35:3, Isaiah 35:8, Isaiah 35:10

Key moments

1. The desert blossoms (Isaiah 35:1). The wilderness is glad and the desert blossoms as the rose.
2. Strengthen the weak hands (Isaiah 35:3). Hearers are told to confirm feeble knees and speak courage to the fearful.
3. God comes to save (Isaiah 35:4). The fearful are told that God will come with recompence and save them.
4. Blind eyes opened (Isaiah 35:5). The eyes of the blind open and the ears of the deaf are unstopped.
5. Waters in the wilderness (Isaiah 35:6). The lame leap and the dumb sing as streams break out in the desert.
6. The way of holiness (Isaiah 35:8). A highway is there for the redeemed, and fools will not err in it.
7. The ransomed return to Zion (Isaiah 35:10). The ransomed of the Lord come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy.

For reflection

The highway is called The way of holiness, yet the text says that wayfaring men, though fools, will not err on it. What does the chapter suggest about a road that keeps out the unclean but keeps fools from getting lost?