5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf be unstopped;
I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will take hold of thy hand; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring forth the prisoner from the prison, them that sit in darkness out of the house of restraint.
And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken; and the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of the instructed, that I should know how to succour by a word him that is weary. He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the instructed.
Wherefore he says, Wake up, [thou] that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.
But the men having come to him said, John the baptist has sent us to thee, saying, Art *thou* he that is coming, or are we to wait for another? In that hour he healed many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and to many blind he granted sight. And Jesus answering said to them, Go, bring back word to John of what ye have seen and heard: that blind see, lame walk, lepers are cleansed, deaf hear, dead are raised, poor are evangelized; and blessed is whosoever shall not be offended in me.
and said to him, Art *thou* the coming [one]? or are we to wait for another? And Jesus answering said to them, Go, report to John what ye hear and see. Blind [men] see and lame walk; lepers are cleansed, and deaf hear; and dead are raised, and poor have glad tidings preached to them:
[The] Spirit of [the] Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to [the] poor; he has sent me to preach to captives deliverance, and to [the] blind sight, to send forth [the] crushed delivered,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you [the] spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him, being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, [and] what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
And Ananias went and entered into the house; and laying his hands upon him he said, Saul, brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus that appeared to thee in the way in which thou camest, that thou mightest see, and be filled with [the] Holy Spirit. And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he saw, and rising up was baptised;
And some of them said, Could not this [man], who has opened the eyes of the blind [man], have caused that this [man] also should not have died?
And as he passed on, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this [man] or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this [man] sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be manifested in him. I must work the works of him that has sent me while it is day. [The] night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am [the] light of the world. Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud of the spittle, and put the mud, as ointment, on his eyes. And he said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is interpreted, Sent. He went therefore and washed, and came seeing.
And Jehovah said to him, Who gave man a mouth? or who maketh dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? [have] not I, Jehovah?
But Jesus, seeing that [the] crowd was running up together, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, *I* command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And having cried out and torn [him] much, he came out; and he became as if dead, so that the most said, He is dead.
And he comes to Bethsaida; and they bring him a blind man, and beseech him that he might touch him. And taking hold of the hand of the blind man he led him forth out of the village, and having spit upon his eyes, he laid his hands upon him, and asked him if he beheld anything. And having looked up, he said, I behold men, for I see [them], as trees, walking. Then he laid his hands again upon his eyes, and he saw distinctly, and was restored and saw all things clearly.
And they bring to him a deaf [man] who could not speak right, and they beseech him that he might lay his hand on him. And having taken him away from the crowd apart, he put his fingers to his ears; and having spit, he touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven he groaned, and says to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the band of his tongue was loosed and he spoke right. And he charged them that they should speak to no one [of it]. But so much the more *he* charged them, so much the more abundantly *they* proclaimed it; and they were astonished above measure, saying, He does all things well; he makes both the deaf to hear, and the speechless to speak.
And blind and lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
And lo, two blind men, sitting by the wayside, having heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out saying, Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David. But the crowd rebuked them, that they might be silent. But they cried out the more, saying, Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David. And Jesus, having stopped, called them and said, What will ye that I shall do to you? They say to him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. And Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes had sight restored to them, and they followed him.
Then was brought to him one possessed by a demon, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so that the dumb [man] spake and saw.
And as Jesus passed on thence, two blind [men] followed him, crying and saying, Have mercy on us, Son of David. And when he was come to the house, the blind [men] came to him. And Jesus says to them, Do ye believe that I am able to do this? They say to him, Yea, Lord. Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus charged them sharply, saying, See, let no man know it.
Yea, thou heardest not, yea, thou knewest not, yea, from of old thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldest ever deal treacherously, and thou wast called a transgressor from the womb.
Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 35
Commentary on Isaiah 35 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 35
Isa 35:1-10. Continuation of the Prophecy in the Thirty-fourth Chapter.
See on Isa 34:1, introduction there.
1. solitary place—literally, "a dry place," without springs of water. A moral wilderness is meant.
for them—namely, on account of the punishment inflicted according to the preceding prophecy on the enemy; probably the blessings set forth in this chapter are included in the causes for joy (Isa 55:12).
rose—rather, "the meadow-saffron," an autumnal flower with bulbous roots; so Syriac translation.
2. glory of Lebanon—its ornament, namely, its cedars (Isa 10:34).
excellency of Carmel—namely, its beauty.
Sharon—famed for its fertility.
see … glory of the Lord … excellency—(Isa 40:5, 9). While the wilderness which had neither "glory" nor "excellency" shall have both "given to it," the Lord shall have all the "glory" and "excellency" ascribed to Him, not to the transformed wilderness (Mt 5:16).
3. Strengthen … hands … confirm … knees—The Hebrew for "strengthen" refers to the strength residing in the hand for grasping and holding a thing manfully; "confirm," to the firmness with which one keeps his ground, so as not to be dislodged by any other [Maurer]. Encourage the Jews, now desponding, by the assurance of the blessings promised.
4. fearful—"hasty," Margin; that is, with a heart fluttered with agitation.
with—the Hebrew is more forcible than the English Version: "God will come, vengeance! even God, a recompense!" The sense is the same.
5, 6. Language figuratively, descriptive of the joy felt at the deliverance from Assyria and Babylon; literally, true of the antitypical times of Messiah and His miracles (see Margin references, Mt 11:5; Lu 7:2; 2Jo 5, 8; Ac 3:2).
6. leap—literally, "fulfilled" (Ac 3:8; 14:10).
sing—joyful thanksgiving.
in … wilderness … waters—(Isa 41:18).
7. parched ground—rather, "the mirage (Hebrew, Sharab, 'the sun's heat') shall become a (real) lake." The sun's rays refracted on the glowing sands at midday give the appearance of a lake of water and often deceive the thirsty traveller (compare Jer 2:13; Isa 41:18).
dragons—rather, "jackals."
each—namely, jackal.
grass—rather, "a dwelling or receptacle (answering to the previous habitation) for reeds," &c. (which only grow where there is water, Job 8:11). Where once there was no water, water shall abound.
8. highway—such a causeway (raised way, from a Hebrew root, "to cast up") as was used for the march of armies; valleys being filled up, hills and other obstructions removed (Isa 62:10; compare Isa 40:3, 4).
way of holiness—Hebraism for "the holy way." Horsley translates, "the way of the Holy One;" but the words that follow, and Isa 35:10, show it is the way leading the redeemed back to Jerusalem, both the literal and the heavenly (Isa 52:1; Joe 3:17; Re 21:27); still Christ at His coming again shall be the Leader on the way, for which reason it is called, "The way of the Lord" (Isa 40:3; Mal 3:1).
it shall be for those: the wayfaring men—rather, "He (the Holy One) shall be with them, walking in the way" [Horsley].
though fools—rather, "And (even) fools," that is, the simple shall not go astray, namely, because "He shall be with them" (Mt 11:25; 1Co 1:26-28).
9. No lion—such as might be feared on the way through the wilderness which abounded in wild beasts, back to Judea. Every danger shall be warded off the returning people (Isa 11:6-9; Eze 34:25; Ho 2:18). Compare spiritually, Pr 3:17.
10. Language: literally, applying to the return from Babylon; figuratively and more fully to the completed redemption of both literal and spiritual Israel.
joy upon … heads—(Ps 126:2). Joy manifested in their countenances. Some fancy an allusion to the custom of pouring oil "upon the head," or wearing chaplets in times of public festivity (Ec 9:8).