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Isaiah 41:18

in Isaiah 41

I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

KJV

I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

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This verse in Isaiah 41

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Tertullian

AGAINST MARCION 3.5 · Written before 220.

God is not offering his services as a water manager or a farmer when he says, "I will open rivers in a dry land; I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the box tree."

This site's exposition

the poor and needy seek water

on Isaiah 41:17-18

The evidence turns from conquest to compassion, the poor and needy seeking water that is not there, their tongues failing for thirst, met by a direct promise, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. The answer given is not a single well but rivers opened in high places and fountains in the valleys, the wilderness itself made a pool of water. Henry reads the image as both literal provision for the returning exiles crossing dry country and a picture of the gospel's supply for spiritual thirst, both readings carried by the older commentators without choosing between them.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

In high places - Upon the mountains where by the course of nature there are no rivers. The dry land - Their people who are like a dry and barren wilderness.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I will open rivers - That is, I will cause rivers to flow (see the note at Isa 35:7). The allusion here is doubtless to the miraculous supply of water in the desert when the Israelites had come out of Egypt. God then supplied their needs; and in a similar manner he would always meet his people, and would supply their needs as if rivers of pure water were made to flow from dry and barren hills.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • אֶפְתַּ֤חI will open

    ʾeftachH6605 →144 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • שְׁפָיִים֙bare heights

    shefayimH8205 →

  • נְהָר֔וֹתrivers

    neharotH5104 →119 times

  • וּבְת֥וֹךְand in [the] middle of

    uvetokhH8432 →418 times

  • בְּקָע֖וֹתvalleys

    bekaotH1237 →20 times

  • מַעְיָנ֑וֹתsprings

    ma'yanotH4599 →

  • אָשִׂ֤יםI will make

    ʾasimH7760 →584 times

  • מִדְבָּר֙[the] wilderness

    midbarH4057 →270 times

  • לַאֲגַם־<into> a pool of

    laagam-H98 →9 times

  • מַ֔יִםwater

    mayimH4325 →581 times

  • וְאֶ֥רֶץand a land

    veeretzH776 →2504 times

  • צִיָּ֖הdry

    tziyahH6723 →16 times

  • לְמוֹצָ֥אֵי<into> springs of

    lemotzaeiH4161 →

  • מָֽיִם׃water

    mayimH4325 →581 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Isaiah 43:19Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.109 worksPsalms 63:1O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.19 worksIsaiah 35:6–7Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.18 worksPsalms 107:35He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.17 worksIsaiah 58:11The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.15 worksRevelation 22:1Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb13 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 30:25And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.11 worksEzekiel 47:1–8Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.9 worksRevelation 7:17For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”9 worksPsalms 104:10He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains.9 worksIsaiah 44:3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.8 worksIsaiah 32:2Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.7 worksIsaiah 49:9–10to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.7 worksJoel 3:18And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.7 worksIsaiah 12:3With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,6 worksZechariah 14:8And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the Eastern Sea and the other half toward the Western Sea, in summer and winter alike.6 worksIsaiah 48:21They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.5 worksPsalms 105:41He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.5 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Isaiah 58:11

    The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

    it leads to

    • John 4:14

      But 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.”

    • Jeremiah 31:12

      They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and…

    • Psalms 32:8

      I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.

    • 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.

    • John 16:13

      However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to…

  • Through

    Psalms 107:35

    He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 35:6–7

      Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 114:8

      who turned the rock into a pool, the flint into a fountain of water!

    • Isaiah 41:17–19

      The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Isaiah: the study guide →Read Isaiah 41 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 3.5.

Read on in Isaiah 41 →