Isaiah 35

After the warnings of judgment in the chapters before it, Isaiah pictures the joy of God’s saving rescue. The dry desert blooms, weak people are strengthened, the blind see and the lame leap, and a holy highway leads God’s redeemed home to Zion with singing. It is a promise that sorrow will not have the last word.

Isaiah 35:1

Isaiah begins with dry, empty land and says it will be glad. The desert is not only watered; it celebrates and flowers. God’s coming salvation touches creation itself, turning barrenness into beauty.

BSA: rose (“crocus, lily”): The flower is a small bulb plant that suddenly bursts into bloom, which shows how quickly God can turn dead ground into life.

Hebrew: תִּפְרַח (tifrach, H6524) — “it will bud, sprout and flower.” The word describes the sudden opening of buds. The desert does not change slowly; it breaks out in flower.

See also: Isaiah 51:3.

Isaiah 35:2

The desert will be given the glory of the most fruitful places in Israel: Lebanon with its cedars, Carmel with its greenery, and Sharon with its rich plain. Yet the greatest gift is seeing the LORD’s own glory. The blooming land points beyond itself to God.

BSA: bloom (“flourish abundantly, produce flowers”): The blossoming is not scant but overflowing, matching the fullness of the joy. glory (“honor, splendor”): The land receives honor as a gift, and God’s own majesty is the source of it.

Isaiah 35:3

Those who already believe are told to encourage the weary. Hands that hang down and knees that shake describe people worn out by waiting and fear. God’s promise is meant to be passed on to hearts that are tired.

BSA: Strengthen (“make strong, confirm”): Encouragement is meant to make the weak firm, not merely cheer them for a moment.

See also: Hebrews 12:12.

Isaiah 35:4

The message to the fearful is simple: your God is coming. His coming means setting things right against those who do wrong, and rescue for His people. The same arrival brings justice and salvation. Fear gives way to courage because God Himself is on the way.

BSA: retribution (“the reward of God”): God’s act of putting things right is also a recompense for His people, so His judgment of evil serves their rescue. anxious (“fearful, hastened”): The picture is of hearts racing in alarm, which God calms with a promise.

See also: Isaiah 40:9-10.

Isaiah 35:5

When God comes, the damage sin and sorrow have done begins to be reversed. Blind eyes open and deaf ears hear. The words can be read literally and also as a picture of people coming to see and understand God. Jesus later pointed to such healings as signs of His work.

BSA: opened (“to see, to understand, to perceive”): Beyond physical sight, God gives people understanding to perceive Him.

See also: Matthew 11:4-5.

Isaiah 35:6

The lame leap like a deer and the speechless shout for joy. Healing here is not just relief but exuberant freedom. Water bursting out in the desert shows the same overflow of life. God’s salvation affects both the body and the land.

BSA: leap (“jump, spring into action”): The healed do not merely walk; they spring with energy that was impossible before. gush forth (“break out, burst out”): The water does not trickle but breaks through suddenly, as life breaking into a dead place.

Hebrew: יְדַלֵּג (yedalleg, H1801) — “he will leap, bound.” The verb describes a bounding, energetic jump. It is a vivid picture of a crippled person transformed.

See also: Acts 3:8.

Isaiah 35:7

Scorched ground becomes a pool and thirsty land becomes springs. Even the lairs of wild jackals turn into green places of reeds and papyrus. What was a place of danger and desolation becomes a place of life and refreshment.

BSA: pool (“a body of calm water, a marsh”): The picture is of still, lasting water that does not vanish in the heat, a sign of dependable supply. springs (“fountains, sources”): These are not just puddles but fresh sources that keep flowing.

See also: John 7:37-38.

Isaiah 35:8

A raised road will run through the wilderness, and it is named the Way of Holiness. It belongs to God’s people who walk in His ways. The unclean do not travel it, and even the foolish will not wander off it. The road is safe and clear, so no traveler need be lost.

BSA: highway (“main road, turnpike”): This is a built-up, prepared road, not a faint trail, which shows God has made the way ready. fools (“those who despise wisdom, are morally corrupt”): Folly in Scripture is a refusal of God’s wisdom, not simply a lack of cleverness.

See also: Isaiah 40:3; John 14:6.

Isaiah 35:9

No lion or savage beast threatens this road. The dangers of the wilderness are gone, and those who walk it are the redeemed. Safety on the journey rests not on the traveler’s strength but on God’s protection.

BSA: redeemed (“bought back, freed from bondage”): Those on the road are people God has rescued by paying the price to set them free.

Hebrew: גְּאוּלִים (ge’ulim, H1350) — “the redeemed, those bought back.” The word comes from the family duty of a close relative to rescue a person or property. It shows that God acts as the family protector of His people.

See also: Isaiah 43:1.

Isaiah 35:10

The chapter ends with a homecoming. The people God has ransomed come into Zion singing, crowned with joy that never ends. Gladness catches up with them, while sorrow and sighing run away. This is the hope of the final joy God promises His people.

BSA: overtake (“reach, catch up to”): Joy is pictured as chasing down the travelers and reaching them, rather than something they must strain after.

See also: Isaiah 51:11; Revelation 21:4.