Isaiah 48:21
in Isaiah 48They 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
KJV
And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
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This verse in Isaiah 48
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts,.... As when he led the people of Israel through the wilderness to Canaan's land, though they sometimes thirsted for want of water, yet they were supplied with it, by which their thirst was extinguished, to which the reference here is. So when they came out of Babylon, and passed through the waste and desert places which lay between that and Judea, they were supplied with all necessaries.
This site's exposition
Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!
on Isaiah 48:20-22
Verse 20 turns lament into a marching order, “Leave Babylon”. Verse 21 recalls the wilderness, “He split the rock, and water gushed out”, tying the new exodus to the first. Verse 22 closes, “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked,” a sentence the book repeats at 57:21.
This site's exposition
He split the rock
Gill carries the picture onto the road home from Babylon, where the LORD led the exiles through the deserts and supplied their thirst. Henry notes that providence can do the work of a miracle. He reads the water that flowed from the split rock as grace from Christ.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The three interpreters treat this as if it were something that had already occurred: "You made water flow for them from a rock; the waters broke the hard rock and flowed out." According to the Septuagint, the text alludes to the prophetic grace the Jews …
(Verse 20, 21, 22.) Go out of Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; proclaim it with a shout of joy, make it heard, proclaim it to the ends of the earth, and say: The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob. They did not thirst when he led them through the desert; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out. There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. Those above in that place, where it is written: I have spoken and called it; I have brought him and his way is straight; they understand it concerning Cyrus and Darius; even this refers to those times when the people went out of Babylon and fled from the Chaldeans, and they were redeemed by their Lord God. This also, which is said: They did not thirst in the desert when he led them out, he brought water from the rock for them; and he split the rock, and water flowed. Although they cannot teach that it was fulfilled according to history; for they did not come through the desert under Zerubbabel and Ezra, and the split rock provided them water, as is narrated to have happened to those coming out of Egypt: however, they testify hyperbolically that it was fulfilled in likeness to the previous happiness, when they came through the desert of nations into Judaea, and were liberated from captivity. And so, they say, it is not about Christ, but about Cyrus that it is prophesied: There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. And it is understood to mean that perfect happiness will not exist except under Christ, which is reserved for the last time. Moreover, those who interpret this more truly and rightly refer it to the coming of the Savior, of whom it is said: He has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for prisoners. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he designates to the liberated the past benefit of consolation: they thirsted not, that is, the Lord will so provide for them in all things, as when they came forth from Egypt: he struck the rock, and the waters gushed out (Ps 78:20), Numbers …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
God does his work as effectually by marvellous providences as by miracles, though perhaps they are not so much taken notice of. This is applicable to those treasures of grace laid up for us in Jesus Christ, from which all good flows to us as the water did to Israel out of the rock, for that rock is Christ.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And they thirsted not - This is a part of that for which they would be called to celebrate his name. It was not merely that he had redeemed them, but that he had abundantly provided for their needs in the desert, and guided them safe through the pathless wilderness to their own land (see the notes at Isa 35:6-7; Isa 41:17-18).
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
105:41) and of that from Babylon, are blended together; the language, while more immediately referring to the latter deliverance, yet, as being blended with circumstances of the former not strictly applicable to the latter, cannot wholly refer to either, but to the mystic deliverance of man under Messiah, and literally to the final restoration of Israel.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
They thirsted not - through the deserts - Kimchi has a surprising observation upon this place: “If the prophecy,” says he, “relates to the return from the Babylonish captivity, as it seems to do, it is to be wondered how it comes to pass, that in the Book of Ezra, in which he gives an account of their return, no mention is made that such miracles were wrought for them; as, for instance, that God clave the rock for them in the desert.” It is really much to be wondered, that one of the most learned and judicious of the Jewish expositors of the Old Testament, having advanced so far in a large Comment on Isaiah, should appear to be totally ignorant of the prophet’s manner of writing; of the parabolic style, which prevails in the writings of all the prophets, and more particularly in the prophecy of Isaiah, which abounds throughout in parabolical images from the beginning ts the end; from “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,” to “the worm and the fire” in the last verse. And how came he to keep his wonderment to himself so long? Why did he not expect that the historian should have related how, as they passed through the desert, cedars, pines, and olive-trees shot up at once on the side of the way to shade them; and that instead of briers and brambles the acacia and the myrtle sprung up under their feet, according to God’s promises, Isa 41:19 and Isa 55:13? These and a multitude of the like parabolical or poetical images, were never intended to be understood literally. All that the prophet designed in this place, and which he has executed in the most elegant manner, was an amplification and illustration of the gracious care and protection of God vouchsafed to his people in their return from Babylon, by an allusion to the miraculous exodus from Egypt. See De S. Poesi, Hebr. Prael. ix.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| צָמְא֗וּ | tzameu | they were thirsty | H6770 → | 10 times |
| בָּחֳרָבוֹת֙ | bochoravot | [when] in [the] waste places | H2723 → | 42 times |
| הֽוֹלִיכָ֔ם | holikham | he led them | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| מַ֥יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מִצּ֖וּר | mitzur | from a rock | H6697 → | 78 times |
| הִזִּ֣יל | hizil | he caused to flow | H5140 → | 16 times |
| לָ֑מוֹ | lamo | for them | ||
| וַיִּ֨בְקַע־ | vaiyivka'- | and he split open | H1234 → | 51 times |
| צ֔וּר | tzur | a rock | H6697 → | 78 times |
| וַיָּזֻ֖בוּ | vaiyazuvu | and they flowed out | H2100 → | |
| מָֽיִם׃ | mayim | waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
צָמְא֗וּthey were thirsty
tzameuH6770 →10 times
בָּחֳרָבוֹת֙[when] in [the] waste places
bochoravotH2723 →42 times
הֽוֹלִיכָ֔םhe led them
holikhamH1980 →1546 times
מַ֥יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
מִצּ֖וּרfrom a rock
mitzurH6697 →78 times
הִזִּ֣ילhe caused to flow
hizilH5140 →16 times
לָ֑מוֹfor them
lamo
וַיִּ֨בְקַע־and he split open
vaiyivka'-H1234 →51 times
צ֔וּרa rock
tzurH6697 →78 times
וַיָּזֻ֖בוּand they flowed out
vaiyazuvuH2100 →
מָֽיִם׃waters
mayimH4325 →581 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
Exodus 17:6Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 9:15
In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to…
- Numbers 20:9–11
So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded.
- Psalms 105:41
He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
- Deuteronomy 8:15
He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
Through
Psalms 105:41He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
it leads to
- Numbers 20:11
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.
- Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
- Psalms 114:8
who turned the rock into a pool, the flint into a fountain of water!
- Numbers 20:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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 15:48.20-21 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.