Isaiah 49:10
in Isaiah 49They 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water will he guide them.
KJV
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
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This verse in Isaiah 49
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBut since they have been called to the light of truth, they have become pastures for them, and feeding-grounds that nourish them toward spiritual manliness, and to the desire for every good thing. And God promises them the abundance of His grace, and help, and spiritual consolation. For they shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst, he says. For long ago they were in want of spiritual consolation, for there was among them no divine law, no prophet, no guide, no instructor, no teacher, no spring of spiritual waters.
This site's exposition
They will not hunger or thirst
on Isaiah 49:10-13
The regathering is a flock led by the LORD, who “will guide them and lead them beside springs of water”, an image John’s Gospel echoes. The exiles come “from the north and from the west”, and from Sinim, which the Berean reads as “the land of Aswan”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
He has threatened Israel [with suffering] hunger for the Word and [with] a dearth of clouds: "I will send," he says, "a famine of hearing the word of the Lord," and elsewhere: "And I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it." Here, …
"The merciful One will encourage them, and he will lead them by springs of water." For the springs of Israel and of salvation are plentiful. The springs of Israel are those of the Old Covenant, and the springs of salvation are those of the New.
(Versed 8 and following) Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.'
The Medieval Church1 voice
As to the absence of evils, both of privation: they shall not hunger, etc., and of inflicted harm: neither shall the heat, of tribulation, nor the sun, tyrants that make tribulation: the sun shall not burn you by day (Ps 120[121]:6); and he assigns the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But this is directed to the isles (that is, the Gentiles, for they are called the isles of the Gentiles, Gen. x. 5 ) and to the people from far, that were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, and afar off.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When God pleases even highway ground shall be good ground for the sheep of his pasture to feed in. Their pastures shall be not only in the valleys, but in all high places, which are commonly dry and barren. Wherever God brings his people he will take care they shall want nothing that is good for them, Ps. xxxiv.
They shall not hunger nor thirst,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They shall not hunger nor thirst - All their needs shall be abundantly provided for, as a shepherd will provide for his flock. In the book of Revelation, this entire passage is applied Isa 7:16-17 to the happiness of the redeemed in heaven, and the use which is made of it there is not foreign to the sense in Isaiah.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Messiah will abundantly satisfy all the wants, both of literal Israel on their way to Palestine, and of the spiritual on their way to heaven, as their Shepherd (Isa 65:13;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And I will make all My mountains into a road In contrast to what he said concerning the days of its ruin (supra:8) “The wayfarer has stopped,” now the wayfarers shall return and go therein.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִרְעָ֙בוּ֙ | yiravu | they will be hungry | H7456 → | 13 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִצְמָ֔אוּ | yitzmau | they will be thirsty | H6770 → | 10 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַכֵּ֥ם | yakem | it will strike them | H5221 → | 499 times |
| שָׁרָ֖ב | sharav | burning heat | H8273 → | |
| וָשָׁ֑מֶשׁ | vashamesh | and sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מְרַחֲמָ֣ם | merachamam | [one who] has compassion on them | H7355 → | 47 times |
| יְנַהֲגֵ֔ם | yenahagem | he will guide them | H5090 → | 31 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מַבּ֥וּעֵי | mabuei | springs of | H4002 → | |
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| יְנַהֲלֵֽם׃ | yenahalem | he will lead them | H5095 → | 10 times |
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִרְעָ֙בוּ֙they will be hungry
yiravuH7456 →13 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִצְמָ֔אוּthey will be thirsty
yitzmauH6770 →10 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַכֵּ֥םit will strike them
yakemH5221 →499 times
שָׁרָ֖בburning heat
sharavH8273 →
וָשָׁ֑מֶשׁand sun
vashameshH8121 →134 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מְרַחֲמָ֣ם[one who] has compassion on them
merachamamH7355 →47 times
יְנַהֲגֵ֔םhe will guide them
yenahagemH5090 →31 times
וְעַל־and to
veal-H5921 →5755 times
מַבּ֥וּעֵיsprings of
mabueiH4002 →
מַ֖יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
יְנַהֲלֵֽם׃he will lead them
yenahalemH5095 →10 times
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
Matthew 5:6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
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.”
- Psalms 107:9
For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
- John 6:27
Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of…
- John 6:48–58
I am the bread of life.
- Psalms 145:19
He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.
- John 4:14
Through
Ezekiel 34:23I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 37:24–25
My servant David will be king over them, and there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow My ordinances and keep and observe My statutes.
- Jeremiah 30:9
Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
- Isaiah 40:11
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- Ezekiel 37:24–25
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Isaiah; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:35; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 15:49.10 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.