Isaiah 58:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 58:11
And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
a garden (as fenced) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
spring
וּכְמוֹצָ֣אu.khe.mo.Tza'
H4161
a going forth · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
water
מַ֔יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
waters
מֵימָֽיוmei.Mav
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fail
יְכַזְּב֖וּye.kha.ze.Vu
H3576
to lie (i.e. deceive) · verb, piel imperfect, 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
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of…
Psalms 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Jeremiah 31:12 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…
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 spr…
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall…
Psalms 25:9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
Proverbs 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Song of Solomon 4:15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 58:8-12
Here are precious promises for those to feast freely and cheerfully upon by faith who keep the fast that God has chosen; let them know that God will make it up to them. Here is,
I. A further account of the duty to be done in order to our interest in these promises (Isa 58:9, Isa 58:10); and here, as before, it is required that we both do justly and love mercy, that we cease to do evil and learn to do well. 1. We must abstain from all acts of violence and fraud. "Those must be taken away from the midst of thee, from the midst of thy person, out of thy heart" (so some); "thou must not only refrain from the practice of injury, but mortify in thee all inclination and disposition towards it." Or…
satisfy . . . in drought-- (Isa 41:17-18). Literally, "drought," that is, parched places [MAURER].
make fat--rather, "strengthen" [NOYES]. "Give thee the free use of thy bones" [JEROME], or, "of thy strength" [HORSLEY].
watered garden--an Oriental picture of happiness.
fail not--Hebrew, "deceive not"; as streams that disappoint the caravan which had expected to find water, as formerly, but find it dried up (Job 6:15-17).
Adam Clarke on Isaiah 58:11
And make fat thy bones "And he shall renew thy strength" - Chaldaeus forte legit יחכיף עצמתך yachaliph otsmathecha; confer cap. Isa 40:29, Isa 40:31, et Isa 41:1. - Secker. "The Chaldee perhaps read יחליף עצמתך yachaliph otsmathecha. "The Chaldee has וגופך יחיי בחיי עלמא veguphach vechaiyey bechaiyey alma, "and he will vivify thy body in life eternal." The rest of the ancients seem not to know what to make of יחליץ yachalits; and the rendering of the Vulgate, which seems to be the only proper one, ossa tua liberabit, "he will deliver thy bones," makes no sense. I follow this excellent emendation; to favor which it is still farther to be observed that three MSS., instead of עצמתיך atsmotheych…
As for "Here I am," this does not mean a voice but the operation through actions. For you are taught by events that the God whom you called on is with you.You will have God present, who will offer you a share of his goodness. We think by "bones" is meant the thoughts; for these receive joy. For if anyone takes God's promise to his "bones," he will not miss the intention of the prophecy. For the body is enriched by joy in the soul. "For a joyful heart cheers the face."
Those who were of Israel by blood are written as a type when God sent down manna from heaven. For this figure can be thought of as the bread of angels and as heavenly bread. For there are those in whose minds the divine light shines brightly and who work hard and irreproachably to know the holy Scriptures—we say that these people are filled and brimming with the heavenly nourishment of God.… Now whoever receives knowledge and is filled by his divine mysteries, that person's bones have flesh put on them. For the oracle here is constructed in fleshly terms. Their soul became like a lush garden, that is, luxuriant and tree-filled and with many types of flowers abounding and providing all sorts of fruit. For gardens that lack water are exceedingly ugly, being dry and barren of all fruit.… For just the hardiest among trees has the most beautiful fruit, so also fairest and finest virtues exist in God's sight among the souls of the saints.
(Verse 11) And the Lord will always give you rest, and will fill your soul with splendor, and will free your bones. And you will be like a well-watered garden, and like a fountain of water, whose waters will not fail. LXX: And your God will be with you always: and you will be filled as your soul desires, and your bones will become fat. And they will be like a drunken garden, and like a fountain, whose water will not fail. What is added at the beginning of this chapter in the Alexandrian manuscripts: And still praise will be in you always; and in the end your bones will rise like grass, and become fat, and they will possess the inheritance for generations upon generations. This is not found in Hebrew, nor even in the corrected and true copies of the Seventy: hence, it should be marked with an obelus. When the darkness, says he, of thine heart shall be dissolved in the rising light, and midday shall have arisen from palpable night, then wilt thou always have God as thy inhabitant, who shall fill thy soul with brightness. Of whom it is said in the Psalms: With thee is the principality of thy power, in brightnesses of the saints, from the womb before the morning star I begot thee (Ps. 109:4) . Whether thou shalt be satisfied with all things which thy soul desireth, because thou also hast satisfied the hungry soul, and shalt be able to say: Bless the Lord, O my soul, who filleth thy desire with good things (Ps. 102:5) ; and thy bones shall be delivered from death and perpetual fire. Or, they will cause them to become thick again, which had been made thin by the hunger of speech of the Lord. And indeed, we can understand this both in a literal sense concerning the resurrection of bodies that are going to fall, and concerning the virtues of the soul, which the holy one speaks of in the psalm, 'All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you?' (Ps. 34:10). Regarding these matters, it is also written in Proverbs, 'Good fame fattens the bones' (Prov. 15:30). And to those who are promised rewards, Health will be to your body, and healing to your bones (Prov. XVI, 24). Concerning them it is written again, The Lord keeps all their bones, not one of them shall be broken (Ps. XXXIII, 21). On the contrary, the sinner, who has lost strength and virtue of the soul, laments and speaks: Our bones are scattered nearby the underworld (Ps. CXL, 7). For we cannot believe that the…
Dictionary and topics
Beneficence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Emblems Of The Holy Spirit, The · Fertilising — Fertilising
Fasting · Promises connected with — Promises connected with
Fountains And Springs · Sometimes dried up — Sometimes dried up
Gardens · Illustrative: (Well watered,) of spiritual prosperity of the church — Illustrative: (Well watered,) of spiritual prosperity of the church
Philanthropy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Privileges Of Saints · Having God for their: Guide — Having God for their: Guide
Righteous · .Watered gar — .Watered gar
Righteousness · FRUITS OF — FRUITS OF
Saints, Compared To · Watered gardens — Watered gardens
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 the Lord shall guide thee continually,.... With his counsel, by his word, and by his Spirit, and that night and day; as he guided the Israelites through the wilderness with the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night: or, "cause thee to rest" (k); from adversity, from persecution; to have spiritual rest in Christ now, and eternal rest hereafter:
and satisfy thy soul in drought; or, "in drynesses" (l); in an exceeding dry time; when in a dry and thirsty land; when thirsting after Christ and his grace, Christ and his righteousness; after more knowledge of him, communion with him, and conformity unto him; after the word and ordinances; after the presence of God in them; and…
And Jehovah will always conduct thee. He now describes more clearly what he had spoken briefly and figuratively, that God will be their guide, so that they shall be in want of nothing for a full abundance of blessings. God is said to "conduct" us, when we actually feel that he goes before us, as if he were placed before our eyes.
And will satisfy thy soul in drought. The Prophet adds that the aid promised shall not be of short duration, because God never forsakes his people in the middle of the journey, but continues his kindness towards them with unwearied regularity, and for this reason promises that they shall be satisfied amidst the deepest poverty; because God never is in want of any b…
The prophet now proceeds to point out the reward of divine grace, which would follow such a fast as this, consisting of self-renouncing, self-sacrificing love; and in the midst of the promise he once more reminds of the fact, that this love is the condition of the promise. This divides the promises into two. The middle promise is linked on to the first; the morning dawn giving promise of the "perfect day" (Pro 4:18). The first series of promises we have in Isa 58:8, Isa 58:9. "Then will thy light break forth as the morning dawn, and thy healing will sprout up speedily, and thy righteousness will go before thee, the glory of Jehovah will follow thee. Then wilt thou call and Jehovah will answe…
your light . . . as bright as noon: God would rescue and vindicate his people (see Job 11:17; Ps 37:6).
Rashi on Isaiah 58:11
in drought Heb. בְּצַחְצָחוֹת, at the time of thirst and drought. So did Jonathan render.
strengthen Heb. יַחֲלִיף [lit. arm.] Comp. (Num. 31:5) “Armed (חֲלוּצֵי) for war.”