Isaiah 41:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 41:17
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
to search out (by any method · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
water
מַ֙יִם֙ma.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
tongue
לְשׁוֹנָ֖םle.sho.Nam
H3956
the tongue (of man or animals) · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
faileth
נָשָׁ֑תָּהna.Sha.tah
H5405
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
thirst
בַּצָּמָ֣אba.tza.Ma'
H6772
thirst (literally or figuratively) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hear
אֶעֱנֵ֔ם'e.'e.Nem
H6030
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
God
אֱלֹהֵ֥י'e.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
forsake
אֶעֶזְבֵֽם'e.'ez.Vem
H5800
to loosen · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without…
Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon th…
Isaiah 30:19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when h…
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Psalms 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
Psalms 72:12-13 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light befor…
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 41:10-20
The scope of these verses is to silence the fears, and encourage the faith, of the servants of God in their distresses. Perhaps it is intended, in the first place, for the support of God's Israel, in captivity; but all that faithfully serve God through patience and comfort of this scripture may have hope. And it is addressed to Israel as a single person, that it might the more easily and readily be accommodated and applied by every Israelite indeed to himself. That is a word of caution, counsel, and comfort, which is so often repeated, Fear thou not; and again (Isa 41:13), Fear not; and (Isa 41:14), "Fear not, thou worm Jacob; fear not the threatenings of the enemy, doubt not the promise of…
poor and needy--primarily, the exiles in Babylon.
water--figuratively, refreshment, prosperity after their affliction. The language is so constructed as only very partially to apply to the local and temporary event of the restoration from Babylon; but fully to be realized in the waters of life and of the Spirit, under the Gospel (Isa 30:25; Isa 44:3; Joh 7:37-39; Joh 4:14). God wrought no miracles that we read of, in any wilderness, during the return from Babylon.
faileth--rather, "is rigid" or parched [HORSLEY].
John Gill on Isaiah 41:17
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst,.... This is to be understood not literally, but spiritually; not of their outward circumstances, though the people of God are for the most part the poor of the world, and in need of the good things of it, hungry and thirsty, and naked; but of their spiritual estate: as in Christ they need nothing; but in themselves, and at different times, and in different frames, want many things; as larger discoveries of the love of God, fresh supplies of grace from Christ, more spiritual light and liveliness, fresh strength and comfort, fresh views of pardon and righteousness, fresh food for faith, and more grace o…
(Verse 17 and following) 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. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it. LXX: And the poor and needy will rejoice, for they will seek water and there will be none; their tongue will be parched with thirst. I, the Lord God of Israel, will hear them; I will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the barren 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. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the cypress, together with the fir tree and the pine, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. The common people, poor and humble, who did not have knowledge of the truth, sought through various teachers and the various doctrines of philosophers for healing waters, and they did not find them, because they do not exist; their language was parched with thirst, without Law and Prophets. For they had consumed all their substance on doctors according to the faith of the Gospel (Luke 8); and they could not be freed from the blood of idolatry and the blood of sacrifices. Therefore, the Lord God of Israel did not completely abandon them, nor did he allow them to perish forever; but he opened rivers on the tops of the hills, or springs in the midst of the fields. Which rivers drew their beginning from that river which is read in the Psalms: The impetuousness of the river makes the city of God glad (Ps. 46:4). And in another place: The river of God is filled with water. Which waters and springs sprang from that fountain which speaks through Jeremiah: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water (Jer. 2:13). And above, in this same Prophet, it is said: They shall drink waters from the springs of…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Emblems Of The Holy Spirit, The · Refreshing — Refreshing
Poor, The · God: Hears — God: Hears
Prayer, Answers To · Received by those who: Are poor and needy — Received by those who: Are poor and needy
Water · Necessary to the comfort and happiness of man — Necessary to the comfort and happiness of man
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Isaiah 41:17
The needy and poor shall seek water. Here he follows out the subject which he had begun to handle at the beginning of the fortieth chapter; for he describes the wretched and afflicted condition in which the Jews should be in Babylon, till at length God should have compassion on them and render assistance. He therefore prepares them for enduring extreme poverty, by saying that they will be thirsty; for this figure of speech, by which a part is taken for the whole, is better adapted to express the severity of the affliction. We know that nothing gives men greater distress than the want of water when they are "thirsty."
I Jehovah will listen to them. God declares that he will relieve them, whe…
At the present time, indeed, the state of His people was a helpless one, but its cry for help was not in vain. "The poor and needy, who seek for water and there is none, their tongue faints for thirst. I Jehovah will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I open streams upon hills of the field, and springs in the midst of the valleys; I make the desert into a pond, and dry land into fountains of water. I give in the desert cedars, acacias, and myrtles, and oleasters; I set in the steppe cypresses, plane-trees, and sherbin-trees together, that they may see, and know, and lay to heart and understand all together, that the hand of Jehovah hath accomplished this, and the Holy One…
When the grain is thrown into the wind, the chaff is blown away. Likewise, Israel’s enemies appeared to be strong but would easily be driven off.
Rashi on Isaiah 41:17
seek water The prophet prophesied concerning the end of days (Amos 8:11), “Not a famine for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of the Lord...They shall wander to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.” And when His wrath subsides, He shall prepare for them bread and water and cause His Shechinah and His spirit to rest in the mouth of their prophets.
is parched Heb. נָשָׁתָּה. An expression similar to (supra 19:5) “And water from the sea shall dry up (וְנִשְּׁתּוּ).” An expression similar to (Lam. 3:45) “The destruction (הַשֵּׁאת) and the breach.” And all of them are an expression of destruction and dryness. Therefore, a ‘dagesh’ appears in the ‘tav,’ since i…
