Isaiah 49:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 49:10
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
to hunger · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
thirst
יִצְמָ֔אוּyitz.Ma.'u
H6770
to thirst (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
heat
שָׁרָ֖בsha.Rav
H8273
quivering glow (of the air) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sun
וָשָׁ֑מֶשׁva.Sha.mesh
H8121
the sun · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
smite
יַכֵּ֥םya.Kem
H5221
to strike (lightly or severely · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
mercy
מְרַחֲמָ֣םme.ra.cha.Mam
H7355
to fondle · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
lead
יְנַהֲגֵ֔םye.na.ha.Gem
H5090
to drive forth (a person · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
springs
מַבּ֥וּעֵיma.Bu.'ei
H4002
a fountain · noun, common masculine plural construct
water
מַ֖יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
guide
יְנַהֲלֵֽםye.na.ha.Lem
H5095
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine 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
Revelation 7:16-17 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Ezekiel 34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
Isaiah 33:16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
Psalms 121:5-6 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those th…
Jeremiah 31:9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way,…
John 10:3-4 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 49:7-12
In these verses we have,
I. The humiliation and exaltation of the Messiah (Isa 49:7): The Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and Israel's Holy One, who had always taken care of the Jewish church and wrought out for them those deliverances that were typical of the great salvation, speaks here to him, who was the undertaker of that salvation. And, 1. He takes notice of his humiliation, the instances of which were uncommon, nay, unparalleled. He was one whom man despised. He is despised and rejected of men, Isa 53:3. To be despised by so mean a creature (man, who is himself a worm) bespeaks the lowest and most contemptible condition imaginable. Man, whom he came to save and to put honour upon, yet d…
Messiah will abundantly satisfy all the wants, both of literal Israel on their way to Palestine, and of the spiritual on their way to heaven, as their Shepherd (Isa 65:13; Mat 5:6), also in heaven (Rev 7:16-17).
John Gill on Isaiah 49:10
They shall not hunger nor thirst,.... Being fed in the ways and high places of Gospel ordinances with the love of God, with covenant mercies and precious promises, with Christ, the bread of life, and his grace the water of life, and with the doctrines of the Gospel; they do not desire carnal things, as formerly, but spiritual ones, which they have and are satisfied with, and desire no other food: it signifies that there shall be no famine of the word, nor want of spiritual provisions; it is applied to the New Jerusalem state, Revelation 7:16 and so the following clause,
neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; not the sun of persecution, nor the heat of fiery trials and afflictions, parti…
They shall not hunger or thirst. He confirms what was said in the former verse, that there is food in the hand of God, so that the Jews shall not be in want of provisions for their joumey. Nor can it be doubted that he calls to their remembrance, that when their fathers were threatened with death in the wilderness through a scarcity of bread and of every kind of food, God gave them daily, for forty years, manna from heaven. (Exodus 16:35.) In like manner, when he immediately afterwards speaks of a shadow against the heat of the sun, he alludes to the history related by Moses about "the pillar of a cloud," by which God protected his people from being scorched by the buming rays of the sun. (E…
The Church Fathers
"The merciful One will encourage them, and he will lead them by springs of water." For the springs of Israel and of salvation are plentiful. The springs of Israel are those of the Old Covenant, and the springs of salvation are those of the New.
He has threatened Israel [with suffering] hunger for the Word and [with] a dearth of clouds: "I will send," he says, "a famine of hearing the word of the Lord," and elsewhere: "And I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it." Here, on the contrary, he promises those who have believed in him that they would have an abundance of divine nourishment and that they will have sources of salvation at their disposal forever.
But since they have been called to the light of truth, they have become pastures for them, and feeding-grounds that nourish them toward spiritual manliness, and to the desire for every good thing. And God promises them the abundance of His grace, and help, and spiritual consolation. For they shall not hunger, nor shall they thirst, he says. For long ago they were in want of spiritual consolation, for there was among them no divine law, no prophet, no guide, no instructor, no teacher, no spring of spiritual waters. But since they have received mercy from God, the supply of spiritual goods has now become most abundant for them, as they have received soul-profiting nourishment. For they ate bread from heaven, they drank living water, about which Christ Himself spoke, addressing the woman in Samaria: "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will have in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." And the prophet Isaiah also said somewhere concerning those justified by faith, and who submit the neck of their mind to the evangelical decrees: "He will dwell in a high cave of a strong rock; bread will be given to him, and his water will be sure." But neither shall the burning heat strike them, nor the sun. For Christ has become their protector. He who long ago also suspended a cloud for the sons of Israel by day, and led them by a pillar of fire by night. Therefore, they will be outside of the sun and burning heat, he says, that is, they will obtain protection from God, so that no burden befalls them, that is, one that leads to faintheartedness.
Dictionary and topics
Isaiah, Book Of — I. Chapters 1-5 contain Isaiah’s prophecies in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, foretelling that the present prosperity of Judah should be destroyed, and that Israel should be brought to desolation.…
Diseases · Mentioned in scripture: Sunstroke — Mentioned in scripture: Sunstroke
Heaven · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Salvation · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Seekers · 5:8;8:5,6; — 5:8;8:5,6;
Sun, The · The rays of: Frequently destructive to human life — The rays of: Frequently destructive to human life
Water · .Water of salvation — .Water of salvation
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).
The next two vv. describe (though only with reference to Israel, the immediate circle) what is the glory of the vocation to which Jehovah, in accordance with His promise, exalts His chosen One. "Thus saith Jehovah, In a time of favour have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee: and I form thee, and set thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to apportion again desolate inheritances, saying to prisoners, Go ye out: to those who are in darkness, Come ye to the light." Jehovah heard His servant, and came to his help when he prayed to Him out of the condition of bondage to the world, which he shared with his people. He did it at the time for the active dis…
Like a shepherd, the Lord in his mercy will lead the returning exiles beside cool waters; he promised to comfort them and tend to their needs (see also 40:11; Ps 23:1). • level paths . . . highways: The Lord would open up the way of salvation.
