Isaiah 58:12

Isa 58:12 And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Ver. 12. And they that shall be of thee.] Thy posterity, that have taken their being and beginning from thee.

Shall build the old waste places.] Heb., The wastes of antiquity, i.e., the ruinous places of Jerusalem. The apostles, also, as master builders, and others as builders together with them, have a happy hand in rearing the fair fabric of the new man, that "hidden man of the heart." See Eph 2:20-22.

And thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach.] The father of thy country, the repairer of peace, the restorer of lost liberty, &c. Such honour had Nehemiah of old; Hunniades of late, who, having overthrown Mesites, the Turkish general, at his return into the camp a wonderful number of the poor captives came, and falling at his feet and kissing them, gave God thanks for their deliverance by him; some called him the father, some the defender of his country; the soldiers, their invincible general; the captives, their deliverer; the women, their protector; the young men and children, their most loving father. He again, with tears standing in his eyes, courteously embraced them, rejoicing at the public good; and himself giving most hearty thanks to God, commanded the like to be done in all the churches of that province, &c. {a} On the contrary, our Henry III, for his ill managing of matters, was called Regni dilapidator, destroyer of the kingdom; and Richard III, the calamity of his country.

{a} Turkish History, 269.

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.

58:12 a rebuilder of walls: Nehemiah would later fulfill this promise (see Neh 2:17).

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

Signifying, that of the Jews should come such as should build again the ruins of Jerusalem and Judea: but chiefly this is meant of the spiritual Jerusalem, whose builders were the Apostles.

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

they . . . of thee--thy people, the Israelites.

old waste places--the old ruins of Jerusalem (Isa 61:4; Eze 36:33-36).

foundations of many generations--that is, the buildings which had lain in ruins, even to their foundations, for many ages; called in the parallel passage (Isa 61:4), "the former desolations"; and in the preceding clause here, "the old waste places." The literal and spiritual restoration of Israel is meant, which shall produce like blessed results on the Gentile world (Amo 9:11-12; Act 15:16-17).

be called--appropriately: the name truly designating what thou shalt do.

breach--the calamity wherewith God visited Israel for their sin (Isa 30:26; Ch1 15:13).

paths to dwell in--not that the paths were to be dwelt in, but the paths leading to their dwellings were to be restored; "paths, so as to dwell in the land" [MAURER].

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 12. The restorer of paths to dwell in - "The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants."] To this purpose it is rendered by the Syriac, Symmachus, and Theodotion.

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

(12) Shall build the old waste places.—The prophet contemplates primarily the restoration of the public and private buildings of Jerusalem, but the words have obviously a wider spiritual application.

The foundations of many generations—i.e., those that had been lying in ruins, with no superstructure, for even a longer period than the seventy years of exile.

Thou shalt be called . . .—This was to be the special work, and was to constitute the enduring fame, of the new Israel.

Paths to dwell in—i.e., the streets of the city shall be once more flanked with houses on either side, and not merely roads from one point to another.

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

12. Comp. ch. Isa_61:4, Isa_49:8. The importance attached to the restoration of the ruined places shews that what the prophet has in view is chiefly the recovery of temporal and political prosperity. It may also throw some light on the date of the prophecy. The description of the ruins as “ancient” suggests a period considerably later than the Exile (which only lasted half a century), although the argument is not one that can be rigorously pressed.

they that shall be of thee] Strictly “some of thee.” Weir and Cheyne emend the text and read “thy children” (בניך for ממך). König on the other hand (Syntax, p. 37) suggests a change of the verb (reading ונבנו): “and the wastes shall be built by thee.”

the old waste places] Better, the ancient ruins (Isa_44:26).

the foundations of many generations] might mean places which had been founded many generations back, but the correspondence with ch. Isa_61:4 seems to shew that foundations which have lain waste for many generations are referred to.

The repairer of the breach &c.] The restoration of the walls and highways will be an achievement by which the community is remembered.

paths to dwell in] Cf. Job_24:13.

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.

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places,.... As the cities in Israel and Judea, which had been long laid waste by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, were rebuilt by those of the Jewish nation, who returned from the captivity of Babylon, to which there is at least an allusion; and as the church of God, the tabernacle of David, which was fallen down, and had lain long in ruins, through corruptions in doctrine and worship, to the times of Christ, when the apostles, who were of the Jews, those wise masterbuilders, were instruments of raising it up again, and repairing its ruins: so, in the latter day, "the waste places of the world" (n), as the words may be rendered, shall be built by a set of men, that shall be of the church of God, who shall be instruments in his hand of converting many souls, and so of peopling it with Christians; such places as before were desolate, where before there was no preaching of the word, no administration of ordinances, nor any Gospel churches:

thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; either such foundations as have been razed up, and lay so for ages past; or raise up such as shall continue for generations to come. It may allude to the raising the foundations of the city and temple of Jerusalem; but rather refers to the founding of churches in Gospel times, which, as it was done in the first times of it by the apostles in the Gentile world, so shall be again in the latter day, which will continue for many ages:

and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, and the restorer of paths to dwell in; that is, the church and her builders, that shall be of her, shall be so called; the Jews and Gentiles will be converted in great numbers, and coalesce in the same Gospel church state, and so the breach between them will be repaired. Christians of various denominations, who now break off and separate one from another, will be of the same sentiment and judgment in doctrine and discipline; they shall see eye to eye, and cement together, and all breaches will be made up, and there will be no schism in the body; and they shall dwell together in unity, and walk in the same paths of faith and duty, of truth and holiness; and such who will be the happy instruments of all this will have much honour, and be called by these names.

The Targum is,

"they shall call thee one that confirms the right way, and converts, the ungodly to the law.''

(n) "desolata seculi", Munster, Vatablus, Vitringa; "deserta seculi", Pagninus, Montanus.

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

And they that shall be of thee - They that spring from thee; or thy people.

Shall build the old waste places - Shall repair the old ruins, and restore the desolate cities and fields to their former beauty. This language is taken from the condition of Judea during the long captivity at Babylon. The land would have been desolated by the Chaldeans, and lain waste for a period of seventy years. Of course all the remains of their former prosperity would have gone to decay, and the whole country would be filled with ruins. But all this, says the prophet, would be restored if they were obedient to God. and would keep his law. Their descendants would be so numerous that the land would be entirely occupied and cultivated again, and cities and towns would rise with their former beauty and magnificence.

Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations - That is, the foundations which had endured for generations. The word ‘foundations’ here (מוסד môsâd), means properly the foundation of a building, that is, on which a building rests. Here it means the foundation when that alone remains; and is equivalent to ruins. The Hebrew phrase translated ‘of many generational’ (דור־ודור dôr-vâdôr, generation and generation), is equivalent to one generation after another, and is the usual form of the superlative degree. The exact amount of time is not designated; but the phrase is equivalent to a long time - while one generation passes away after another. Vitringa applies this to the gospel, and supposes that it means that the church, after long decay and desolation, would rise to its former beauty and glory. The promise is indeed general; and though the language is taken from the recovery of Palestine from its ruins after the captivity, yet there can be no objection to applying it in a more general sense, as teaching that the people of God, if they are faithful in keeping his commandments, and in manifesting the spirit which becomes the church, will repair the ruins which sin has made in the world, and rebuild the wastes and the desolations of many ages.

Sin has spread its desolations far and wide. Scarce the foundations of righteousness remain in the earth. Where they do remain, they are often covered over with ruined fragments, and are surrounded by frightful wastes. The world is full of the ruins which sin has caused; and there could be no more striking illustration of the effects of sin on all that is good, than the ruins of Judea during the seventy years of exile, or than those of Palmyra, of Baalbec, of Tyre, of Ephesus, and of Persepolis, at present. It is for the church of God to rebuild these wastes, and to cause the beauties of cultivated fields, and the glories of cities rebuilt, to revisit the desolate earth; in other words, to extend the blessings of that religion which will yet clothe the earth with moral loveliness, as though sin had not spread its gloomy and revolting monuments over the world.

And thou shalt be called - The name which shall appropriately designate what you will do.

The repairer of the breach - Lowth, ‘The repairer of the broken mound.’ The phrase properly means, ‘the fortifier of the breach;’ i. e:, the one who shall build up the breach that is made in a wall of a city, either by the lapse of time, or by a siege.

The restorer of paths to dwell in - Lowth and Noves render this, ‘The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘And thou shalt cause thy paths to rest in the midst of thee;’ and Jerome. Avertens semitas in quietem - ‘Turning the paths into rest,’ which the Jewish exposition explains to mean, ‘Thou shalt build walls so high that no enemy can enter them.’ So Grotius renders it, ‘Turning thy paths to rest;’ that is, thou shalt leave no way of access to robbers. The Chaldee renders it, ‘Converting the wicked to the law.’ The common English version has probably expressed correctly the sense. The idea is, that they would repair the public highways which had long lain desolate, by which access was had to their dwelling-places. It does not mean, however, that the paths or ways were to be places in which to dwell, but that the ways which led to their dwelling-places were to be restored, or repaired. These roads, of course, in the long desolations would be ruined. Thorns, and brambles, and trees would have grown upon them; and having been long neglected, they would be impassable. But the advantages of a free contact from one dwelling and one city to another, and throughout the land, would be again enjoyed. Spiritually applied, it means the same as the previous expression, that the church of God would remove the ruins which sin has caused, and diffuse comfort and happiness around the world. The obstructed and overrun paths to a quiet and peaceable dwelling on earth would be cleared away, and the blessings of’ the true religion would be like giving free and easy access from one tranquil and prosperous dwelling-place to another.

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

Generation. As the Jews did not comply with the condition, the Church falls heir to these promises.

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).

They that shall be of thee, i.e. either,

1. A remnant of thee among the captivity, that shall be as persons raised from the dead; or,

2. Thy posterity, expressed thus, because they sprang or proceeded from them.

The old waste places, Heb. wastes of eternity, i.e. which have lain long waste; for holam doth not always signify what is bounded by no time, but what respects a long time, looking either forward, as Gen 13:15; Exo 21:6, or backward, as here, viz. the space of seventy years, and so may truly be rendered the wastes of an age. By waste places he means the city and temple, with cities and places adjacent, turned as it were all into a waste, or wilderness, void and untilled, and which was done not only by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, but by Sennacherib also, and the other kings of Assyria. They had lain so long desolate, that the foxes inhabited them instead of men, Lam 5:18. And it was turned so much into a desert, that they were forced to fight with the beasts that possessed it to get their food, Lam 5:9.

The foundations of many generations; either the foundations that were laid many generations ago, as those of Jerusalem, which was not only built, but was the head of a kingdom, in the days of Melchizedek, who was king thereof in the days of Abraham, as appears, Gen 14:18; if that Salem were Jerusalem, as is generally agreed, and Josephus writes, lib. 1. Antiquit. cap. 10; who was born about the three hundredth year after the flood: the superstructures were now destroyed, viz. of Jerusalem, and divers other cities. Or, that shall continue for many generations yet to come.

Thou shalt be called; thou shalt be honoured with this title, as we use to say the father of our country, i.e. deservedly so called, because thou art so; the like phrase Isa 48:8.

The repairer of the breach: breach is put here collectively for breaches, which were made by God’s judgment breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be demolished, and their state broken, Isa 5:5.

The restorer of paths; such a one was Moses, Psa 106:23. And this tends to the same sense with the former expression, because men were wont to make paths over those breaches, to go the nearest way. Or it may more particularly point at the recovering of the ancient paths, and bringing them into their wonted course, which were either those chief streets through the gates of the cities, or other lanes out of those streets, which were now forgotten and lost, partly by being covered with rubbish, and partly by those shorter paths that were trod and made over the breaches; such a restorer of paths was Nehemiah, Neh 6:1. And we read of the several repairers he made use of, Ne 3. Or those paths that leads from city to city, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass and weeds, for want of travellers, or safety of travelling, (of something a like case we read in the time of the judges, Jdg 5:6,7) and so lost as in a wilderness, wherein there is no way; and by building up those cities again the several paths leading to them would be restored.

To dwell in; these accommodations being all recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to be reinhabited.

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

12. Build the old waste places — The beautiful figures used here are unsurpassable. The prose of it is, Thy children or posterity shall inherit your renewed character, and build up Zion in the far future, and in and through them, thyself shall be called the repairer of the breach, so fearfully made in the spiritual Zion.

The restorer of paths — That is, the old paths. Jer_6:16.

To dwell in — The figure relates, most likely, to the demoralized Jerusalem which, on the return from Babylon, is to be rebuilt, and its streets and walks restored.

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

They that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places. Thy descendants shall restore all that has fallen into decay in Israel, whether it be cities or customs. They shall restore "breaches" of every kind, and bring back the old paths for thee to walk in. The restoration of the ruined cities of Judah may be glanced at, but is far from exhausting the writer"s meaning. (comp. Isa_61:4)

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

They shall be of thee - Thy posterity. Waste places - Cities which have lain long waste; that shall continue for many generations to come. The breach - Breach is put for breaches, which was made by God's judgment breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be demolished. Paths - Those paths that led from city to city, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds. To dwell in - These accommodations being recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to be re-inhabited.

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

“And they shall build from thee the ruins of antiquity (or perpetuity), foundations of age and age (i.e., of ages) shalt thou raise up; and it shall be called to thee (or thou shalt be plea) Repairer of the breach, Restorer of paths for dwelling.” ‘From thee’ denotes something more than mere connection or descent, and, unless forbidden by something in the context, must be taken to signify a going forth from Israel into other lands. Thus understood, the clause agrees exactly with the work assigned to Israel in these prophecies, viz. that of reclaiming the apostate nations, and building the wastes of a desolated world. As ‘olam’ (antiquity) obviously refers to past time, this is the only natural interpretation of the corresponding phrase, ‘generation and generation’. Foundations which have lain bare, or buildings whose foundations have lain bare, for ages. For this metaphor, compare Amo 9:11; for that of a highway, Isa 19:23; Isa 35:8; and for that of the breach, Eze 13:5; Eze 22:30. ‘For dwelling’, (i.e., that the land may be inhabited).

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.

you will be called

This can be stated in active form. AT: "people will call you" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

ruin

generation

call

restore

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

restorer of the paths, to dwell in Heb. מְשׁוֹבֵב. Jonathan renders: restorer of the wicked to the Torah.

מְשׁוֹבֵב is like מֵשִׁיב, restores.

to dwell, to the Torah, which insures the settlement of the world.

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.

ובנו ממך And they that shall be of thee shall build.

The foundations of many generations, that is, a building standing on a foundation, which will last for generations.

תקומם Thou shalt raise up. It is Polel like תשובב (Ps. 60:3). The restorer of paths to dwell in. After people had ceased to tread them, thou wilt restore them, that people will dwell therein.

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.