Isaiah 41:19

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: I WILL PLANT IN THE WILDERNESS THE CEDAR - (Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 55:13.) THE SHITTAH - rather, the acacia, or Egyptian thorn, from which the gum-Arabic is obtained (Lowth). The boards and pillars of the tabernacle were made of it, also the ark, the staves, the table of showbread etc. It grows to the size of a mulberry tree. The Hebrew, shitah (H7848), is derived from the Egyptian term sant, or sunt, the "n" being omitted. The tangled thickets into which the stem expands account for the p...

10-20 God speaks with tenderness; Fear thou not, for I am with thee: not only within call, but present with thee. Art thou weak? I will strengthen thee. Art thou in want of friends? I will help thee in the time of need. Art thou ready to fall? I will uphold thee with that right hand which is full of righteousness, dealing forth rewards and punishments. There are those that strive with God's people, that seek their ruin. Let not God's people render evil for evil, but wait God's time. It is the worm Jacob; so little, so weak, so despised and trampled on by every body. God's people are as worms, in humble thoughts of themselves, and in their enemies' haughty thoughts of them; worms, but not vipers, not of the serpent's seed. Every part of God's word is calculated to humble man's pride, and to make him appear little in his own eyes. The Lord will help them, for he is their Redeemer. The Lor...

Verse Isaiah 41:19. _I WILL PLANT IN THE WILDERNESS THE CEDAR_] The two preceding verses express God's mercy to them in their passage through the dry deserts, in supplying them with abundant water, when distressed with thirst, in allusion to the exodus. This verse expresses the relief afforded to them, fainting with heat in their journey through that hot country, destitute of shelter, by causing shady trees, and those of the tallest and most beautiful kinds, to spring up for their defense. The apocryphal Baruch, speaking of the return from Babylon, expresses God's protection of his people by the same image: "Even the woods and every sweet-smelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God." Isaiah 5:8. _THE OIL TREE_] This, _Kimchi_ says, is not to be understoo

I WILL PLANT IN THE WILDERNESS - The image in this verse is one that is frequent in Isaiah. It is designed to show that God would furnish for his people abundant consolations, and that he would furnish unanticipated sources of comfort, and would remove from them their anticipated trials and calamities. The image refers to the return of the exiles to their own land. That journey lay through Arabia Deserta - a vast desert - where they would naturally expect to meet with nothing but barren hills, naked rocks, parched plains, and burning sands. God says that he would bless them in the same manner as if in that desolate wilderness he should plant the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the fir-tree, and should make the whole distance a grove, where fountains would bubble along their way, and streams burst forth from the hills (compare the notes at Isaiah 32:15)....

SECTION II.—RECOVERY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD FROM THEIR SIN, AND FROM THEIR BONDAGE IN BABYLON (CH. 41-48.). EXPOSITION ISAIAH 41:1 ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DELIVERER, AND EFFECT ON THE SURROUNDING NATIONS. Isaiah returns to the standpoint of Isaiah 40:9. A deliverer of Israel is about to appear. The nat

I WILL PLANT IN THE WILDERNESS THE CEDAR, THE SHITTAH TREE,.... Where such trees had not used to grow, but in Lebanon, and such like places. The "shittah tree" is thought to be a kind of cedar; it is the same of which is the "shittim wood" mentioned in Exodus 25:5 and is so called by the Targum here: AND THE MYRTLE, AND THE OIL TREE; about the former there is no difficulty, and one would think there should be none about the latter, and that the olive tree is meant; but Kimchi thinks that is not certain, and supposes the pine tree is meant; and observes that the olive tree is distinguished from this oil tree in Ne 8:15, as indeed it is; and is by our translators there rendered the pine tree, which they take to be meant by another word in the next clause: I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, a

Isaiah 41:1. _Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment._ God invites people to argue with him. He bids them first «listen» to him, and then speak to him. They had been worshipping idols, so the Lord shows them that the idols are nothing, and that all worship paid to them is a lie. He begins by asking a question:? Isaiah 41:2. _Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his east, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet._ These words are supposed to allude to Cyrus, wh

CHAPTER 41 Jehovah's Challenge 1. _The address to the islands and the peoples (Isaiah 41:1)_ 2. _Jehovah's question, Cyrus and his ways predicted (Isaiah 41:2)_ 3. _Nations troubled on account of Cyrus (Isaiah 41:5)_ 4. _Israel as Jehovah's servant (Isaiah 41:8)_ 5. _The message of comfort and assurance of restoration (Isaiah 41:9)_ 6. _Jehovah's second challenge: He alone can declare things to come (Isaiah 41:21)_ 7. The future t

YAHWEH WILL PROVIDE MIRACULOUS WATER AND SHADE IN THE DESERT FOR THE RETURNING EXILES. This continues Isaiah 41:10. It perhaps combines metaphor with a more literal meaning, and it must be confessed that the reference to the return through the desert is not obvious. The vindicating hand of Yahweh will so wonderfully meet the needs of His people on their homeward way that the nations probably the subject in Isaiah 41:20 will recognise in the miracle the power of Israel's God. ISAIAH 41:19. The kinds of tree named are not certainly identified (_cf. mg.)._...

With great pathos the prophet recalls to mind the miserable condition of Israel in the present, and adapts his glorious promise to their sense of need. He is thus led to a glowing description of the marvels of the desert journey, in which, however, a spiritual meaning is not lost sight of. When _the poor_ Better: THE AFFLICTED AND NEEDY ARE SEEKING WATER WHERE THERE IS NONE, THEIR TONGUE IS PARCHED WITH THIRST. It may be a question whether such a description applies to all the exiles, or only to those, the true Israel, who were conscious of the religious privations of the Captivity....