Isaiah 35:2

Isa 35:2 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.

Ver. 2. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel, &c.] Outward blessings shall be heaped upon God’s people; even all that heart can wish, or need require.

They shall see the glory of the Lord.] Spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Jesus shall be conferred upon them also, even every good gift and perfect giving from the Father of lights,

“ Qui icturatos intexit floribus hortos,

Quique iubet rutilis albescere lilia campis. ”

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 35:2. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice — Great shall be the prosperity and felicity of God’s church in these gospel days. Spiritual blessings are often set forth under the emblems of fruitfulness and plenty, as the reader may see, Isa 4:2; Isa 30:23; Isa 32:15, and elsewhere. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, &c. — The prophet goes on to express the great change which should be made in the Gentile world by the gospel. For Lebanon was a mountain famous for its excellent cedars, Carmel was a most delightful woody mountain, and Sharon a most pleasant place for pasture; so that all these added together express great excellence: as if he had said, Whatever was valuable and desirable in the Mosaic economy shall be translated into, and appear in perfection in, the gospel of Christ; and the Gentile world, formerly a wilderness, shall be as much enriched with spiritual blessings, and be as fruitful in all the graces and virtues which belong to true and genuine religion, as ever Judea was, and abundantly more. They — Who formerly were in the wilderness of heathenism; shall see the glory of the Lord — The glorious discoveries and effects of God’s power and goodness to his people.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35:2 Lebanon . . . Mount Carmel . . . Sharon: There will be a reversal of earlier judgments (see 2:13; 10:34; 29:17; 33:9). • glory . . . splendor of our God: See also 6:3; 40:5.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Church which was before compared to a barren wilderness shall by Christ be made most plenteous and beautiful.

He showeth that the presence of God is the cause that the Church doth bring forth fruit and flourish.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

glory of Lebanon--its ornament, namely, its cedars (Isa 10:34).

excellency of Carmel--namely, its beauty.

Sharon--famed for its fertility.

see . . . glory of the Lord . . . excellency-- (Isa 40:5, Isa 40:9). While the wilderness which had neither "glory" nor "excellency" shall have both "given to it," the Lord shall have all the "glory" and "excellency" ascribed to Him, not to the transformed wilderness (Mat 5:16).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. Rejoice even with joy and singing - "The well-watered plain of Jordan shall also rejoice"] For ורנן veranen, the Septuagint read ירדן yarden, τα ερηνα του Ιορδανου, "the deserts of Jordan." Four MSS. read גלת gulath; see Jos 15:19: "Irrigua Jordani;" Houbigant. גידת gidoth, Ripae Jordani, "the banks of Jordan;" Kennicott. See De S. Poesi Hebr. Praelect. xx. note.

Unto it] For לה lah, to it, nine MSS. of Kennicott's and four of De Rossi's read לך lecha, to thee. See ibid.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) The glory of Lebanon . . .—The three types of cultivated beauty are contrasted with the former three of desolation. See Note on Isa_33:9. And over this fair land of transcendent beauty, there will shine not the common light of day, but the glory of Jehovah. (Comp. Isa_30:26; Rev_21:23.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. the glory of Lebanon … Carmel and Sharon] Cf. ch. Isa_33:9, Isa_29:17 (Isa_32:15).

they (lit. these) shall see the glory of the Lord] ch. Isa_40:5.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing,.... A redundancy of words, to express the very flourishing estate of the church, and the great joy there shall be on that occasion, as well as because of the destruction of their enemies, and deliverance from them:

the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it; a mountain in Judea, famous for its choice and tall cedars, which were the glory of it; signifying hereby, that the church of God, which had been in a desolate condition, should abound with choice and excellent Christians, comparable to the cedars of Lebanon. Jarchi interprets it of the sanctuary or temple; which may be so called, because built of the wood of Lebanon. This was an emblem and type of the Gospel church; and the glory of it lay not only in its outward form and building, but in those things which were in the holy places of it, especially the most holy, which were all typical of spiritual things in Gospel times; so that all the glory of the Jewish church state and temple is brought into the Gentile church, into the Christian or Gospel church state; and which will still more appear in the latter day, when the temple of God will be opened in heaven, and the ark of the testament; see Rev 11:19,

the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; two places in the land of Judea, famous for fruitfulness and pasturage; and so denote the very great fruitfulness of the Gospel church; the word and ordinances of which are as green pastures for the sheep of Christ to feed upon, and by which they become fat and flourishing:

they shall see the glory of our Lord, and the excellency of our God; the Targum introduces this clause thus,

"the house of Israel, to whom these things are said, they shall see,'' &c.;

but not Israel in a literal sense is here meant, but the Gentile church, formerly in the wilderness; or, however, converted persons, be they Jews or Gentiles, in the latter day, who shall see the glory of divine power, in the destruction of their enemies; and the excellency and beauty of divine grace, in the blessings of it bestowed upon them; they shall see the glory of the Lord, which shall then be risen upon them, Isa 60:1 the Lord our God is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Lord and God; the glory and excellency of whose person and offices, and of his righteousness and salvation, is seen in the Gospel, by those whose eyes are enlightened by the Spirit of God; and will be more clearly discerned, when there will be a greater effusion of the Spirit, as a spirit, of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; and to this sight of the glory and excellency of Christ, the joy and fruitfulness of the church will be greatly owing. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "my people shall see", &c.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

It shall blossom abundantly - Hebrew, ‘Blossoming it shall blossom’ - a common mode of expression in Hebrew, denoting certainty, abundance, fullness - similar to the expression Gen 2:17, ‘Dying thou shalt die,’ that is, thou shalt surely die. The sense here is, it shall blossom in abundance.

And rejoice even with joy - Strong figurative language, denoting the greatness of the blessings; as great as if in the waste wilderness there should be heard the voice of joy and rejoicing. The Septuagint renders this: ‘The deserts of Jordan also bloom and rejoice;’ and Jerome applies this to the preaching of John in the wilderness adjacent to Jordan. The Septuagint evidently read ירדן yaredēn instead of the Hebrew ירנן yerannēn. Lowth has followed this, and rendered it, ‘The well-watered plain of Jordan shall rejoice,’ but without any authority from Hebrew manuscripts for the change.

The glory of Lebanon - The glory or ornament of Lebanon was its cedars (see the note at Isa 10:34). The sense here is, that the change would be as great under the blessings of the Messiah’s reign as if there should be suddenly transferred to the waste wilderness the majesty and glory of mount Lebanon.

The excellency of Carmel - Carmel was emblematic of beauty, as Lebanon was of majesty, and as Sharon was of fertility. For a description of Carmel, see the note at Isa 29:17; of Sharon, see the note at Isa 33:9. The sense is clear. The blessings of the times of the Messiah would be as great, compared with what had existed before, as if the desert were made as lovely as Carmel, and as fertile as Sharon. The world that, in regard to comfort, intelligence, and piety, might be cormpared to a pathless desert, would be like the beauty of Carmel and the fertility of Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord - As manifested under the Messiah.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Joy. The primitive Christians rejoiced in a good conscience, and in suffering for the truth.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; the wilderness shall be as pleasant and fruitful as Lebanon, and Carmel, and Sharon; which were eminent parts of the land of Canaan, as hath been oft noted.

They, who are understood by the wilderness,

shall see the glory of the Lord; the glorious discoveries and effects of God’s power and goodness to his people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. The glorious moral transformation is continued under the figure of extreme physical changes occurring in the desert and parched land.

Shall blossom abundantly… rejoice… with joy and singing — The words express the intensified conviction of the prophet that triumphs grand and complete are to come to the friends of Jehovah in place of the powers of evil hitherto ruling. Nor can the rapt mind of the prophet cease its utterances till it has exhausted its glow of expectation and joy by combining every appropriate object of nature around him into a glorious physical picture. The strong and spreading cedars of Lebanon, and the luxuriant plains of Sharon and hills of Carmel, in the prophet’s eye are seen to extend over all that but recently was a waterless waste, gloomy, fearful, terrific. In view of moral changes so great, and so soon to occur, the prophet exhorts the afflicted people of God to bemoan their condition no longer.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; rather, with dancing and singing. Dancing and singing were the ordinary manifestations of religions joy, (Exo_15:1, Exo_15:20, 21 Jud_1:11:34 21:19-21 2Sa_6:5, 2Sa_6:14, 15 Psa_30:11, etc.) and would naturally follow the great deliverance of the Church from the power of its enemies. The clause is a touch of realism intruded into a prolonged metaphor or allegory, and is quite in the manner of Isaiah. (Isa_14:7 Isa_26:1 Isa_30:32, etc.) The glory of Lebanon... the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; i.e. productiveness of all kinds, of abundant harvests, fruits, and flowers, and forest trees (comp. Isa_10:18, Isa_10:19, Isa_10:33, 34 32:15) a resumption and prolongation of the metaphor in ver. 1. They shall see the glory of the Lord. The culminating joy and delight and blessedness of the Church shall be the vision of God either the spiritual perception of his presence (Mat_5:8 Rom_1:20) or the actual beatific vision, (1Co_13:12 Rev_21:11, 23 22:4) the first during the probation period, the second in the state of final bliss.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The excellency - The wilderness shall be as pleasant and fruitful as Lebanon, and Carmel, and Sharon. They - The inhabitants of the wilderness aforesaid. The glory - The glorious discoveries of God's power and goodness.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“(It shall) blossom, it shall blossom and rejoice; yea, (with) joy and shouting; or, yea joy and shouting (there shall be). The glory of Lebanon is given unto it (the desert), the beauty of Carmel and of Sharon. They (who witness this great change) shall see the glory of Jehovah, the beauty of our God.” The same idea of complete and joyful change is again expressed by the same figure, but with greater fullness, the desert being here described as putting on and wearing the appearance of the spots most noted for luxuriant vegetation.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

and to sing (lit., and sing,) like: and to sing.

the Lebanon The Temple.

the beauty of His glory will be given to Zion.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

It shall blossom. Palestine or Jerusalem shall blossom.

גילת לב ═ גילת Joy of the heart. The ת indicates the construct state of the noun. Unto it. Unto the Lebanon, according to some commentators.

They shall see. The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall see.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.