Isaiah 35 is the mirror image of chapter 34 — where that chapter decreed desolation, this one erupts in bloom. The wilderness rejoices, the desert blossoms like a crocus, and the glory of Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon are restored. Blind eyes open, deaf ears unseal, the lame leap like deer, and the mute tongue sings for joy. A highway appears — the Highway of Holiness — on which the ransomed of the LORD return to Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy, while sorrow and sighing flee away. This chapter is the theological bridge to the great comfort oracles of chapters 40-66.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
Every line of this chapter reverses a specific curse or judgment from the preceding oracles. The desert that was cursed now blooms; the blind eyes from Isaiah 6:10 now see; the highways that lay desolate in 33:8 become the mesillat haqqodesh (Highway of Holiness). The chapter reads as a prophetic catalog of restoration — each image answering a corresponding image of judgment.
Translation Friction
We have rendered mesillat haqqodesh as "Highway of Holiness" rather than "Way of Holiness" to preserve the sense of mesillah as a raised, constructed road — an engineered path, not a trail. The phrase ge'ulei YHWH ("ransomed of the LORD") uses redemption language rooted in the go'el (kinsman-redeemer) tradition. We render simchat olam as "everlasting joy" rather than "eternal gladness" to maintain consistency with the olam vocabulary throughout Isaiah.
Connections
This chapter anticipates Isaiah 40:3-5 (the highway in the wilderness), 42:7 (opening blind eyes), 61:1-3 (good news to the afflicted), and finds its New Testament fulfillment in Jesus' reply to John the Baptist: "the blind receive sight, the lame walk... the deaf hear" (Matthew 11:5, directly quoting Isaiah 35). The Highway of Holiness anticipates the "way of the LORD" in 40:3 and ultimately the "new and living way" of Hebrews 10:20.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom —
blossom like the crocus!
KJV The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
חֲבַצֶּלֶתchavatselet
"crocus"—crocus, lily, rose, meadow saffron
The chavatselet is likely a bulb flower — crocus or meadow saffron — that blooms suddenly and vividly in arid soil. We render "crocus" rather than KJV's "rose" for botanical accuracy. The same word appears in Song of Solomon 2:1.
Translator Notes
The chapter opens with explosive joy — the midbar (wilderness) and tsiyyah (dry land) are personified as celebrating. The desert does not merely tolerate growth; it rejoices in its own transformation. This is the antithesis of chapter 34's desolation.
It shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
KJV It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The threefold gift — Lebanon's glory, Carmel's splendor, Sharon's beauty — reverses the devastation of 33:9 where these same regions were shamed and withered. The purpose of all this natural restoration is theophanic: to see the glory of the LORD.
Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the faltering knees.
KJV Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The imperative shifts to direct address — the community is told to strengthen one another. Weak hands and faltering knees are images of exhausted hope (see Hebrews 12:12, which directly quotes this verse). The physical imagery carries spiritual meaning: those whose grip on faith has weakened need to be steadied.
Say to those with anxious hearts,
"Be strong; do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you."
KJV Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The message to the fearful is not "calm down" but "your God is coming." The same divine vengeance (naqam) that destroys Edom in chapter 34 now saves his people. Vengeance and salvation are two sides of the same divine action — judgment for the oppressor is deliverance for the oppressed.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
KJV Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The word az ("then") links the healings to God's coming in verse 4. These are not random miracles but the signature acts of the messianic age. Jesus explicitly pointed to this verse when answering John the Baptist's question, "Are you the one who is to come?" (Matthew 11:3-5).
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute shall sing for joy.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert.
KJV Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
פִּסֵּחַpisseach
"the lame"—lame, limping, crippled
The pisseach of 33:23 who merely gathered spoil now leaps like a deer — the same word, utterly transformed. Physical restoration mirrors the spiritual renewal of the entire creation.
Translator Notes
Four healings in two verses: blind see, deaf hear, lame leap, mute sing. The deer (ayyal) is chosen for its agility — the most dramatic possible contrast with lameness. The water imagery parallels the human healings: as bodies are restored, so is the land. Human and ecological renewal are inseparable.
The burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water.
In the haunt of jackals where they once lay,
grass shall grow with reeds and rushes.
KJV And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The sharav ("burning sand" or "mirage") becomes a real pool — the illusion of water becomes actual water. The jackals' haunt from 34:13 is transformed: where predators once lay, marsh grasses grow. Every detail of chapter 34's desolation is specifically reversed.
And a highway shall be there — a road —
and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean shall not travel on it;
it shall belong to those who walk the way.
No fool shall wander onto it.
KJV 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 for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
Mesillah derives from salal ("to cast up, to build up a road"). This is infrastructure — God builds the road home for his people. The holiness is not a barrier but a protection: the road's consecration ensures safe passage.
Translator Notes
The Highway of Holiness is one of Isaiah's most enduring images. It connects the return from exile (ch.40-55) to the ultimate eschatological homecoming. The road's holiness is protective, not exclusionary — it keeps danger out rather than keeping pilgrims in.
No lion shall be there,
no ravenous beast shall go up on it —
they shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk there.
KJV No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
גְּאוּלִיםge'ulim
"redeemed"—redeemed, ransomed, bought back by a kinsman
From ga'al, the kinsman-redeemer verb. The ge'ulim are those whom the LORD has bought back — not with silver but with his own covenant commitment. The go'el (redeemer) theology of Ruth and Leviticus undergirds this promise.
Translator Notes
The absence of predators is not merely zoological but theological — on the Highway of Holiness, every threat is removed. The ge'ulim ("redeemed") walk where lions cannot. The road's safety is guaranteed by its builder.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing,
with everlasting joy crowning their heads.
Gladness and joy shall overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
KJV And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Notes & Key Terms
2 terms
Key Terms
פְּדוּיֵי יְהוָהpeduyei YHWH
"ransomed of the LORD"—ransomed ones, redeemed by payment, purchased back
Peduyei uses padah ("ransom by payment") rather than ga'al ("redeem as kinsman"). Together with ge'ulim in verse 9, Isaiah employs both Hebrew redemption words — kinsman-redemption and ransom-payment — to describe the fullness of God's saving act.
שִׂמְחַת עוֹלָםsimchat olam
"everlasting joy"—joy of eternity, perpetual gladness
The olam ("everlasting, age-long") qualifier transforms simchah ("joy") from emotion to permanent state. This is not happiness that comes and goes but the settled, eternal condition of the redeemed.
Translator Notes
This verse is quoted again in Isaiah 51:11, forming an inclusio around the central servant songs. The fleeing of sorrow is personified — grief runs away as the redeemed approach Zion. The verse serves as the theological bridge to chapters 40-66: everything that follows is the working out of this promise. It is among the most hope-saturated verses in all of Scripture.