5 Then the eyes of the blind will see, and the ears which are stopped will be open.
I the Lord have made you the vessel of my purpose, I have taken you by the hand, and kept you safe, and I have given you to be an agreement to the people, and a light to the nations: To give eyes to the blind, to make free the prisoners from the prison, to let out those who are shut up in the dark.
And the eyes of those who see will not be shut, and those who have hearing will give ear to the word. The man of sudden impulses will become wise in heart, and he whose tongue is slow will get the power of talking clearly.
The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are experienced, so that I may be able to give the word a special sense for the feeble: every morning my ear is open to his teaching, like those who are experienced:
For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.
And when the men came to him they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another? At that time, he made a number of people free from their diseases and their pains, and from evil spirits; and to others who were blind he gave back the use of their eyes. And answering them he said, Go back and give news to John of what you have seen, and the things which have come to your ears; the blind now see, those who had no power in their legs are walking, lepers are made clean, those who had no hearing now have their ears open, dead men come to life again, and the poor have the good news given to them. And a blessing will be on him who has no doubts about me.
To say to him, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another? And Jesus, answering, said to them, Go and give news to John of the things which you are seeing and hearing: The blind see; those who were not able to, are walking; lepers are made clean; those who were without hearing, now have their ears open; the dead come to life again, and the poor have the good news given to them.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; And that having the eyes of your heart full of light, you may have knowledge of what is the hope of his purpose, what is the wealth of the glory of his heritage in the saints,
And Ananias went out and came to the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, whom you saw when you were on your journey, has sent me, so that you may be able to see, and be full of the Holy Spirit. And straight away it seemed as if a veil was taken from his eyes, and he was able to see; and he got up, and had baptism;
But some of them said, This man, who made open the eyes of the blind man, was he not able to keep his friend from death?
And when he went on his way, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples put a question to him, saying, Master, was it because of this man's sin, or the sin of his father and mother, that he has been blind from birth? Jesus said in answer, It was not because of his sin, or because of his father's or mother's; it was so that the works of God might be seen openly in him. While it is day we have to do the works of him who sent me: the night comes when no work may be done. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these words, he put earth, mixed with water from his mouth, on the man's eyes, And said to him, Go and make yourself clean in the bath of Siloam (the sense of the name is, Sent). So he went away and, after washing, came back able to see.
And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? who takes away a man's voice or hearing, or makes him seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
And when Jesus saw that the people came running together, he gave orders to the unclean spirit, saying to him, You, spirit, who are the cause of his loss of voice and hearing, I say to you, come out of him, and never again go into him. And after crying out and shaking him violently, it came out: and the child became like one dead; so that most of them said, He is dead.
And they came to Beth-saida. And they took a blind man to him, requesting him to put his hands on him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and went with him out of the town; and when he had put water from his mouth on his eyes, and put his hands on him, he said, Do you see anything? And looking up, he said, I see men; I see them like trees, walking. Then again he put his hands on his eyes; and looking hard, he was able to see, and saw all things clearly.
And they came to him with one who had no power of hearing and had trouble in talking; and they made a request to him to put his hands on him. And he took him on one side from the people privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he put water from his mouth on the man's tongue with his finger; And looking up to heaven, he took a deep breath, and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be open. And his ears became open, and the band of his tongue was made loose, and his words became clear. And he gave them orders not to give news of it to anyone; but the more he made this request, so much the more they made it public. And they were overcome with wonder, saying, He has done all things well: he even gives back the power of hearing and the power of talking to those who have been without them.
And the blind and the broken in body came to him in the Temple, and he made them well.
And two blind men seated by the wayside, when they had the news that Jesus was going by, gave a loud cry, saying, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us. And the people gave them orders to be quiet; but they went on crying even louder, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us. And Jesus, stopping, sent for them, and said, What would you have me do to you? They say to him, Lord, that our eyes may be open. And Jesus, being moved with pity, put his fingers on their eyes: and straight away they were able to see, and went after him.
Then they took to him one with an evil spirit, who was blind and had no power of talking: and he made him well so that he had the power of talking and seeing.
And when Jesus went on from there, two blind men came after him, crying out, Have mercy on us, you Son of David. And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, Have you faith that I am able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord. Then he put his hand on their eyes, saying, As your faith is, let it be done to you. And their eyes were made open. And Jesus said to them sharply, Let no man have knowledge of it.
Truly you had no word of them, no knowledge of them; no news of them in the past had come to your ears; because I saw how false was your behaviour, and that your heart was turned against me from your earliest days.
Send out the blind people who have eyes, and those who have ears, but they are shut.
The Lord makes open the eyes of the blind; the Lord is the lifter up of those who are bent down; the Lord is a lover of the upright;
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).