Isaiah 42:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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 before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
blind (literally or figuratively) · adjective, masculine plural absolute
way
בְּדֶ֙רֶךְ֙be.De.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
knew
יָדָ֔עוּya.Da.'u
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
lead
אַדְרִיכֵ֑ם'ad.ri.Khem
H1869
to tread · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
paths
בִּנְתִיב֥וֹתbin.ti.Vot
H5410
a (beaten) track · preposition + noun, common feminine plural absolute
known
יָדְע֖וּya.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
make
אָשִׂים֩'a.Sim
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
darkness
מַחְשָׁ֨ךְmach.Shakh
H4285
darkness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
light
לָא֗וֹרla.'or
H216
illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
before
לִפְנֵיהֶ֜םlif.nei.Hem
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
things
וּמַֽעֲקַשִּׁים֙u.ma.'a.ka.Shim
H4625
a crook (in a road) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
straight
לְמִישׁ֔וֹרle.mi.Shor
H4334
a level · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
things
הַדְּבָרִ֔יםha.de.va.Rim
H1697
a word · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
do
עֲשִׂיתִ֖ם'a.si.Tim
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
forsake
עֲזַבְתִּֽים'a.zav.Tim
H5800
to loosen · verb, qal perfect, 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 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to th…
Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways s…
Isaiah 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be fo…
Isaiah 60:19-20 The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an ev…
Isaiah 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places p…
Luke 1:78-79 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Isaiah 32:3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 42:13-17
It comes all to one whether we make these verses (as some do) the song itself that is to be sung by the Gentile world or a prophecy of what God will do to make way for the singing of that song, that evangelical new song.
I. He will appear in his power and glory more than ever. So he did in the preaching of his gospel, in the divine power and energy which went along with it, and in the wonderful success it had in the pulling down of Satan's stronghold, Isa 42:13, Isa 42:14. He had long held his peace, and been still, and refrained himself, while he winked at the times of the ignorance of the Gentile world (Act 17:30), and suffered all nations to walk in their own ways (Act 14:16); but now he…
blind--God's people, Israel, in captivity, needing a guide. In the ulterior sense the New Testament Church, which was about to be led and enlightened by the Son of God as its leader and shepherd in the wilderness of the Roman empire, until it should reach a city of habitation. "A way . . . they knew not," refers to the various means ployed by Providence for the establishment of the Church in the world, such as would never have occurred to the mind of mere man. "Blind," they are called, as not having heretofore seen God's ways in ordering His Church.
make darkness light, &c.--implies that the glorious issue would only be known by the event itself [VITRINGA]. The same holds good of the indiv…
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not,.... The Targum interprets this of the people of Israel, thus,
"I will lead the house of Israel, which are like to the blind, in a way which they knew not.''
But it is better to understand it of the Gentiles, who, before the light of the Gospel came among them, were blind as to the true knowledge of God, and especially as in Christ; and of Christ, and the way of peace, life, and salvation by him; and of themselves, and their miserable estate and condition; and of the Spirit of God, and his operations; and of the Scriptures, the Gospel, and the doctrines of it; and which is the case of all men in a state of nature: but the Lord, by his…
The Church Fathers
The apostle John teaches how this is fulfilled: "We know that the Son of God came and gave understanding to us, that we might know the truth and be in his true Son." And again, "Let us love, therefore, since God first loved us." By loving us, God restores us to be his image, so that he might find the form of his own goodness in us. He grants that we ourselves might work what he works, indeed setting light to our minds and causing us to burn with the fire of his love, in order that we love not only him but also the things that he loves.
Again, God calls the people who suffer from unbelief and who are devoid of intellectual acuteness "the blind." He promises to guide their steps on the way they do not know, for they failed to recognize the path of the truth but followed on the paths of error. "I will turn darkness into light for them." After freeing them from their previous ignorance, I will deem them worthy of the knowledge of God, for ignorance is like darkness, whereas knowledge is analogous to the light. "And crooked things into straight." For the difficult course of wisdom, of the governing of oneself and of justice, he has made an easy course, since he has attached the hope of future benefits to the efforts to claim virtue. "These are the words that I will fulfill for them; and I will not forsake them." I will not cease to judge them worthy of these benefits, and I will lavish all kinds of care, even to the future.
(Verse 16) And I will lead the blind on a path they do not know, and I will make them walk on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness into light in front of them, and I will make crooked paths straight. These are the things I will do for them, and I will not abandon them. LXX: And I will lead the blind along a way they do not know, and I will make their paths uneven; I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight paths. I will speak these words to them, and I will not abandon them. And I will lead the blind along a path they did not know, of whom we have also read above: I have made you a covenant of the people, a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind. They will be led along the way by which Christ speaks. I am the way, that is, the way of the knowledge of God, and I will make them walk on the prophetical paths. Then their darkness will be changed into light, and their faults will be turned into righteousness, so that they may understand what they read and with the eyes of their hearts may gaze upon the clear light of Christ in the Old Testament. At the same time, he adds: These words that I have spoken or will speak to them do not promise anything further in the future, but fulfill what I promised before.
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).
And I will lead the blind. After having shewn that the strength of the enemies cannot prevent God from delivering his people, he proceeds with that consolation to which he had formerly adverted. He describes by the word blind those whose affairs are so difficult, and intricate, and disordered, that they know not to what hand to turn, or in what direction to flee, and, in short, who see no means of escape, but deep gulfs on every hand. When our affairs proceed smoothly enough, a plain and easy path is placed before our eyes; and, in like manner, when our affairs are painful and distressing, and especially when they hold out no hope of relief, but threaten destruction to us, and are covered wi…
The great thing which is brought to pass by means of this catastrophe is the redemption of His people. "And I lead the blind by a way that they know not; by steps that they know not, I make them walk: I turn dark space before them into light, and rugged places into a plain. These are the things that I carry out, and do not leave." The "blind" are those who have been deprived of sight by their sin, and the consequent punishment. The unknown ways in which Jehovah leads them, are the ways of deliverance, which are known to Him alone, but which have now been made manifest in the fulness of time. The "dark space" (machshâk) is their existing state of hopeless misery; the "rugged places" (ma‛ăqa…
I have long been silent . . . restrained myself: Israel had experienced God’s absence in the Exile, which came about because of their idolatrous ways (57:11-13; 2 Kgs 17:6-24). The godly will pray for God’s presence and renewed involvement in their situation (Isa 64:12), and the Lord will answer their prayers because of his commitment to their redemption (62:1, 6).
Rashi on Isaiah 42:16
And I will lead the blind Israel, who were heretofore blind from looking to Me, I will lead in the good way, upon which they did not know to walk.
I will do them Heb. עֲשִׂיתִם [lit. I did them], I will do. So is the language of prophecy, to speak of the future as if it was already done.
