Isaiah 35:7
in Isaiah 35The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
KJV
And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
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This verse in Isaiah 35
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIn the thirsty land, where no water was, nor ordinances ( Ps. lxiii. 1 ), there shall be springs of water, a gospel ministry, and by that the administration of all gospel ordinances in their purity and plenty, which are the river that makes glad the city of our God, Ps. xlvi.
This site's exposition
the parched ground shall become a pool
on Isaiah 35:7-8
The water imagery continues where the healing list left off, the parched ground becoming a pool and the thirsty land springs of water, even the haunt of jackals turned to grass with reeds and rushes. Out of that transformed ground a road appears, an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness, a road the unclean cannot travel and on which even the simple, the wayfaring men though fools, will not lose their way. Delitzsch and Gill both take the highway as more than a literal road home from exile, a way of access to God himself marked out and kept safe for the redeemed rather than the strong.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But since I have not quoted to you such Scripture as tells that Christ will do these things, I must necessarily remind you of one such: from which you can understand, how that to those destitute of a knowledge of God, I mean the Gentiles, who, 'having eyes, saw not, and having a heart, understood not,' worshipping the images of wood, [how even to them] Scripture prophesied that they would renounce these [vanities], and hope in this Christ.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Second, as to the beauty of the fields: in the dens where dragons dwelt before, that is, the land, which formerly was desert, so that these animals lived in it, will be cultivated; the verdure of the reed and the bulrush, which spring up verdant …
The Lord promises concerning holy Church through another prophet, saying: "There shall spring up in her the greenness of the reed and the rush." I remember having explained this in another place, that by the reed we should understand writers, and by the rush, hearers. But since both rush and reed are accustomed to grow near the moisture of water, and both spring forth from one and the same water, and the reed indeed is taken up for writing, while with the rush one cannot write, what should we understand by the rush and the reed, except that there is one doctrine of truth which irrigates many hearers? But some who are irrigated advance in the word of God even to the point that they also become writers, that is, like reeds; but others hear the word of life, maintain the greenness of good hope and right works, yet cannot advance to writing at all. What are these in the water of God except certain rushes, so to speak? They indeed advance by growing green, but they cannot express letters at all.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Streams - The most dry and barren places shall be made moist and fruitful; which is principally meant of the plentiful effusion of God's grace upon such persons and nations, as had been wholly destitute of it.
And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The parched ground “The glowing sand” - שרב sharab; this word is Arabic, as well as Hebrew, expressing in both languages the same thing, the glowing sandy plain, which in the hot countries at a distance has the appearance of water. It occurs in the Koran, chap. 24: “But as to the unbelievers, their works are like a vapor in a plain, which the thirsty traveler thinketh to be water, until, when he cometh thereto, he findeth it to be nothing. “Mr. Sale’s note on this place is, “The Arabic word serab signifies that false appearance which in the eastern countries is often seen on sandy plains about noon, resembling a large lake of water in motion, and is occasioned by the reverberation of the sun beams: ‘by the quivering undulating motion of that quick succession of vapours and exhalations which are extracted by the powerful influence of the sun.’ - Shaw, Trav. p. 378. It sometimes tempts thirsty travelers out of their way; but deceives them when they come near, either going forward, (for it always appears at the Same distance), or quite vanishing.” Q. Curtius has mentioned it: “Arenas vapor aestivi solis accendit; camporumque non alia, quam vasti et profundi aequoris species est.” - Lib. vii., c. 5. Dr. Hyde gives us the precise meaning and derivation of the word. “Dictum nomen Barca הברקה habberakah, splendorem, seu splendentem regionem notat; cum ea regio radiis solaribus tam copiose collustretur, ut reflexum ab arenis lumen adeo intense fulgens, a longinquo spectantibus, ad instar corporis solaris, aquarum speciem referat; et hinc arenarum splendor et radiatio, (et lingua Persica petito nomine), dicitur serab, i.e., aquae superficies seu superficialis aquarum species.” Annot. in Peritsol., cap. ii. “Shall spring forth” - The ה he in רבצה rebitseh seems to have been at first מ mem in MS. Bodl., whence Dr. Kennicott concludes it should be רבצים rebitsim. […]
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the parched ground shall become a pool - The idea is the same here as in the previous verse, that under the Messiah there would be blessings as great as if the parched ground’ should become a lake of pure and refreshing water. The words ‘parched ground,’ however, probably do not convey the sense which Isaiah intended.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיָ֤ה | vehayah | and it will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַשָּׁרָב֙ | hasharav | the parched ground | H8273 → | |
| לַאֲגַ֔ם | laagam | <into> a pool | H98 → | 9 times |
| וְצִמָּא֖וֹן | vetzimaon | and thirsty ground | H6774 → | |
| לְמַבּ֣וּעֵי | lemabuei | <into> springs of | H4002 → | |
| מָ֑יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| בִּנְוֵ֤ה | binveh | in a habitation of | H5116 → | 35 times |
| תַנִּים֙ | tanim | jackals | H8577 → | 28 times |
| רִבְצָ֔הּ | rivtzah | resting place its | H7258 → | |
| חָצִ֖יר | chatzir | herbage | H2682 → | 21 times |
| לְקָנֶ֥ה | lekaneh | <into> reed[s] | H7070 → | 62 times |
| וָגֹֽמֶא׃ | vagome' | and papyrus | H1573 → |
וְהָיָ֤הand it will become
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
הַשָּׁרָב֙the parched ground
hasharavH8273 →
לַאֲגַ֔ם<into> a pool
laagamH98 →9 times
וְצִמָּא֖וֹןand thirsty ground
vetzimaonH6774 →
לְמַבּ֣וּעֵי<into> springs of
lemabueiH4002 →
מָ֑יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
בִּנְוֵ֤הin a habitation of
binvehH5116 →35 times
תַנִּים֙jackals
tanimH8577 →28 times
רִבְצָ֔הּresting place its
rivtzahH7258 →
חָצִ֖ירherbage
chatzirH2682 →21 times
לְקָנֶ֥ה<into> reed[s]
lekanehH7070 →62 times
וָגֹֽמֶא׃and papyrus
vagome'H1573 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 4:14But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
it leads to
- John 7:38–39
Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
- John 6:35
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.
- Isaiah 49:10
They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
- Revelation 7:16
‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’
- John 7:38–39
Through
Acts 26:18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- Ephesians 1:18
I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
- Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- Acts 20:32
And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.
- 1 Peter 2:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel 2.1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter LXIX; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.