5 Then opened are eyes of the blind, And ears of the deaf are unstopped,
I, Jehovah, did call thee in righteousness, And I lay hold on thy hand, and keep thee, And I give thee for a covenant of a people, And a light of nations. To open the eyes of the blind, To bring forth from prison the bound one, From the house of restraint those sitting in darkness.
And not dazzled are the eyes of beholders, And the ears of hearers do attend. And the heart of those hastened Understandeth to know, And the tongue of stammerers hasteth to speak clearly.
The Lord Jehovah hath given to me The tongue of taught ones, To know to aid the weary `by' a word, He waketh morning by morning, He waketh for me an ear to hear as taught ones.
wherefore he saith, `Arouse thyself, thou who art sleeping, and arise out of the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.'
And having come near to him, the men said, `John the Baptist sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he who is coming, or for another do we look?' And in that hour he cured many from sicknesses, and plagues, and evil spirits, and to many blind he granted sight. And Jesus answering said to them, `Having gone on, report to John what ye saw and heard, that blind men do see again, lame do walk, lepers are cleansed, deaf do hear, dead are raised, poor have good news proclaimed; and happy is he whoever may not be stumbled in me.'
said to him, `Art thou He who is coming, or for another do we look?' And Jesus answering said to them, `Having gone, declare to John the things that ye hear and see, blind receive sight, and lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and deaf hear, dead are raised, and poor have good news proclaimed,
And I have caused the blind to go, In a way they have not known, In paths they have not known I cause them to tread, I make a dark place before them become light, And unlevelled places become a plain, These `are' the things I have done to them, And I have not forsaken them.
`The Spirit of the Lord `is' upon me, Because He did anoint me; To proclaim good news to the poor, Sent me to heal the broken of heart, To proclaim to captives deliverance, And to blind receiving of sight, To send away the bruised with deliverance,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the recognition of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, for your knowing what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
And Ananias went away, and did enter into the house, and having put upon him `his' hands, said, `Saul, brother, the Lord hath sent me -- Jesus who did appear to thee in the way in which thou wast coming -- that thou mayest see again, and mayest be filled with the Holy Spirit.' And immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, he saw again also presently, and having risen, was baptized,
and certain of them said, `Was not this one, who did open the eyes of the blind man, able to cause that also this one might not have died?'
And passing by, he saw a man blind from birth, and his disciples asked him, saying, `Rabbi, who did sin, this one or his parents, that he should be born blind?' Jesus answered, `Neither did this one sin nor his parents, but that the works of God may be manifested in him; it behoveth me to be working the works of Him who sent me while it is day; night doth come, when no one is able to work: -- when I am in the world, I am a light of the world.' These things saying, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and rubbed the clay on the eyes of the blind man, and said to him, `Go away, wash at the pool of Siloam,' which is, interpreted, Sent. He went away, therefore, and did wash, and came seeing;
And Jehovah saith unto him, `Who appointed a mouth for man? or who appointeth the dumb, or deaf, or open, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah?
Jesus having seen that a multitude doth run together, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, `Spirit -- dumb and deaf -- I charge thee, come forth out of him, and no more thou mayest enter into him;' and having cried, and rent him much, it came forth, and he became as dead, so that many said that he was dead,
And he cometh to Bethsaida, and they bring to him one blind, and call upon him that he may touch him, and having taken the hand of the blind man, he led him forth without the village, and having spit on his eyes, having put `his' hands on him, he was questioning him if he doth behold anything: and he, having looked up, said, `I behold men, as I see trees, walking.' Afterwards again he put `his' hands on his eyes, and made him look up, and he was restored, and discerned all things clearly,
and they bring to him a deaf, stuttering man, and they call on him that he may put the hand on him. And having taken him away from the multitude by himself, he put his fingers to his ears, and having spit, he touched his tongue, and having looked to the heaven, he sighed, and saith to him, `Ephphatha,' that is, `Be thou opened;' and immediately were his ears opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he was speaking plain. And he charged them that they may tell no one, but the more he was charging them, the more abundantly they were proclaiming `it', and they were being beyond measure astonished, saying, `Well hath he done all things; both the deaf he doth make to hear, and the dumb to speak.'
And there came to him blind and lame men in the temple, and he healed them,
and lo, two blind men sitting by the way, having heard that Jesus doth pass by, cried, saying, `Deal kindly with us, sir -- Son of David.' And the multitude charged them that they might be silent, and they cried out the more, saying, `Deal kindly with us sir -- Son of David.' And having stood, Jesus called them, and said, `What will ye `that' I may do to you?' they say to him, `Sir, that our eyes may be opened;' and having been moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
Then was brought to him a demoniac, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
And Jesus passing on thence, two blind men followed him, calling and saying, `Deal kindly with us, Son of David.' And he having come to the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus saith to them, `Believe ye that I am able to do this?' They say to him, `Yes, sir.' Then touched he their eyes, saying, `According to your faith let it be to you,' and their eyes were opened, and Jesus strictly charged them, saying, `See, let no one know;'
Yea, thou hast not heard, Yea, thou hast not known, Yea, from that time not opened hath thine ear, For I have known thou dealest treacherously, And `Transgressor from the belly,' One is crying to thee.
He brought out a blind people who have eyes, And deaf ones who have ears.
Jehovah is loosing the prisoners, Jehovah is opening (the eyes of) the blind, Jehovah is raising the bowed down, Jehovah is loving the righteous,
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).