Isaiah 51:3

For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָ֜ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
comfort	נִחַ֨ם ni.Cham	H5162	properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Zion	צִיּ֗וֹן tzi.Yon	H6726	Tsijon (as a permanent capital) · proper noun, a place name
comfort	נִחַם֙ ni.Cham	H5162	properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
places	חָרְבֹתֶ֔יהָ cha.re.vo.Tei.ha	H2723	properly · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
make	וַיָּ֤שֶׂם vai.Ya.sem	H7760	to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wilderness	מִדְבָּרָהּ֙ mid.ba.Rah	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
Eden	כְּעֵ֔דֶן ke.'E.den	H5731	Eden · preposition + proper noun, a place name
desert	וְעַרְבָתָ֖הּ ve.'ar.va.Tah	H6160	a desert · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
garden	כְּגַן ke.gan-	H1588	a garden (as fenced) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
LORD	יְהוָ֑ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
joy	שָׂשׂ֤וֹן sa.Son	H8342	cheerfulness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
gladness	וְשִׂמְחָה֙ ve.sim.Chah	H8057	blithesomeness or glee · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
found	יִמָּ֣צֵא yi.Ma.tze'	H4672	properly · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
thanksgiving	תּוֹדָ֖ה to.Dah	H8426	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
voice	וְק֥וֹל ve.Kol	H6963	a voice or sound · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
melody	זִמְרָֽה zim.Rah	H2172	a musical piece or song to be accompanied by an instrum… · noun, common feminine singular absolute

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 49:13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have me…
Isaiah 52:9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
Joel 2:3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wil…
Genesis 13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Go…
Jeremiah 31:12-14 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and…
Jeremiah 31:25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
Jeremiah 33:11-13 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Prai…
Zephaniah 3:14-20 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 51:1-3

Observe, 1. How the people of God are here described, to whom the word of this consolation is sent and who are called upon to hearken to it, Isa 51:1. They are such as follow after righteousness, such as are very desirous and solicitous both to be justified and to be sanctified, are pressing hard after this, to have the favour of God restored to them and the image of God renewed on them. These are those that seek the Lord, for it is only in the say of righteousness that we can seek him with any hope of finding him. 2. How they are here directed to look back to their original, and the smallness of their beginning: "Look unto the rock whence you were hewn" (the idolatrous family in Ur of the C…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 51:3

For--See for the argument, see on Isa 51:2. the garden of the Lord--restoration of the primeval paradise (Gen 2:8; Eze 28:13; Rev 2:7). melody--Hebrew, "psalm." God's praises shall again be heard.

John Gill on Isaiah 51:3

For the Lord shall comfort Zion,.... The church, by his Spirit, in the ministration of the word, and administration of ordinances; by the donation of the blessings of grace, and by the application of Gospel promises; by the discoveries of his love; by granting his gracious presence; by blessing his word; and by calling many souls, and adding them to his people: and in order to engage the church and people of God to believe God will do this, and that he can and will bless and increase them when in a low estate, the above instances of calling Abraham alone, and the blessing and increasing him, are produced: he will comfort all her waste places; by rebuilding them, and restoring them to their…

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John Calvin on Isaiah 51:3

Surely Jehovah will comfort Zion. The Prophet shews that in the person of Abraham there was exhibited an example which applies to all ages; for, as the Lord suddenly produced from one man so numerous an offspring, so he will also people his Church by wonderful and unknown methods, and not once only, but whenever she shall be thought to be childless and solitary. In like manner, Paul, after having spoken of the faith of Abraham and praised his excellence, applies that doctrine to each of us, that "he believed in hope against hope, and that his mind was not driven hither and thither, but that he was fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able also to perform, though it appeared to…

The Church Fathers

It is not a question of inhabited places but of desert places, not of regions situated in the east but of those in the west. Those who have seen the city with their own eyes know that the temple of the Jews was in the eastern part of the city, whereas the cross and the [place of] the resurrection were in the western part. Moreover, these places were formerly situated outside the walls. The divine apostle was witness to this when he said, "Jesus … suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach." He makes this prediction accordingly: all the places of the city that were deserted and all those that were in the west will be as the garden of the Lord, for they truly possess the tree of life. "They shall find in it gladness and exultation, thanksgiving and the voice of praise." This also we still see fulfilled in our day: in place of the smoke, of the odor of fat that rises from the victims and of the cult rendered according to the law, which the Lord of the universe, even in former days, did not find agreeable, night and day Zion raises hymns in honor of the God of the universe, for it is filled with [worshipers] who chant hymns.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 16:51.3

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

Affliction, Consolation Under · Promised — Promised
Gardens · Of eden: The future state of the Jews shall be like — Of eden: The future state of the Jews shall be like
Praise · Called the: Voice of melody — Called the: Voice of melody
Zion · Restoration of, promised — Restoration of, promised

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).

Isaiah 51:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 51:1-3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 51:3

John Gill on Isaiah 51:3

John Calvin on Isaiah 51:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Isaiah 51:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 51:1-3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 51:3

John Gill on Isaiah 51:3

John Calvin on Isaiah 51:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 51:3

Rashi on Isaiah 51:3