Isaiah 58:12

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

(They that shall be) of thee - thy people, the Israelites.

Shall build the old waste places - the old ruins of Jerusalem (; ).

Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations - i:e., the buildings which had lain in ruins, even to their foundations, for many ages: called in the parallel passage, , "the former desolations;" and in the preceding clause here, "the old waste places." The literal and spiritual restoration of Israel is meant, which shall produce like blessed results on the Gentile world (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16).

And thou shalt be called - appropriately: the name truly designating what thou shalt do.

The repairer of the breach - the calamity wherewith God visited Israel for their sin (; ).

The restorer of paths to dwell in - not that the paths were to be dwelt in, but the paths leading to their dwellings were to be restored; 'paths, so as to dwell in the land' (cf. ).