Chapter 35

^35:1^ The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily.

^35:2^ It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Libanus is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Saron, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God.

^35:3^ Strengthen the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees.

^35:4^ Say: let the fainthearted take courage and fear not. Behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you.

^35:5^ Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

^35:6^ Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free. For waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness.

^35:7^ And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the dens where dragons dwelt before, shall rise up the verdure of the reed and the bulrush.

^35:8^ And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way: the unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be unto us a straight way, so that fools shall not err therein.

^35:9^ No lion shall be there, nor shall any mischievous beast go up by it, nor be found there: but they shall walk there that shall be delivered.

^35:10^ And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come into Zion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

744. The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad. In this part, he sets out the effect of prosperity resulting for the Jews from the destruction of their enemies. And this is divided into two parts:

in the first, a consoling promise is set out;

in the second, a strengthening exhortation: strengthen the feeble hands (Isa 35:3).

745. Concerning the first, he does three things.

First, he sets out the cheerfulness of the people, which he compares to a flowering meadow, which is also said to laugh, because it has beauty when it is in flower; hence he says: the land that was desolate, that is, the land of the Jews, which, before, having been laid waste by the Assyrians, was like this, metonymically, that is, the people themselves, like the lily, which is the most beautiful flower, and lasts a long time: send forth flowers, as the lily (Sir 39:19); it also has beauty in its bud; hence he says, it shall bud forth: the just shall spring up as a green leaf (Prov 11:28), for like the bud comes from the flower, so outward cheerfulness comes from the joy of the heart.

Second, he promises the fertility of the land: the glory of Libanus, that is, the fertility of various things, which is the glory of these places, will be found in the promised land: his glory shall be as the olive tree: and his smell as that of Libanus (Hos 14:7).

Third, the nearness of both of these: they themselves shall see, that is, it shall not be postponed to the time of their children, above: his eyes shall see the king in his beauty (Isa 33:17).

746. Strengthen the feeble hands. Here a strengthening exhortation is set out, and concerning this, he does three things.

First, he sets out the enjoining of the office of exhortation: strengthen the hands, which are weak for working, and confirm the trembling knees, which are weak for supporting: lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees (Heb 12:12).

Second, the strengthening itself is set out: say to the fainthearted: fear not, little flock (Luke 12:32).

Third, the reason for the strengthening is assigned,

and first, as to the removal of evils, in liberating them from their enemies: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: he will revenge the blood of his servants (Deut 32:43). And in healing their infirmities, then shall the eyes of the blind be opened. And these are metaphorical expressions, if they are referred to the time after the destruction of the Assyrians, so that they are understood as spiritual ills, as above; or they can be understood literally, if they are referred to the coming of Christ, as it says in Matthew 11:5: the blind see, the lame walk.

Second, as to the gathering of goods, four things.

747. First, as to the abundance of the waters: for waters are broken out, metaphorically, in the desert, for consolations; or because it will rain much, so that there will be great fertility: he has turned a wilderness into pools of waters (Ps 106:34[107:35]).

Second, as to the beauty of the fields: in the dens where dragons dwelt before, that is, the land, which formerly was desert, so that these animals lived in it, will be cultivated; the verdure of the reed and the bulrush, which spring up verdant places: he sleeps under the shadow, in the covert of the reed (Job 40:16).

Third, as to the restoration of the ways, he sets out the holiness of the way: and a path, leading to the temple, shall be there, in the land of Judah; the unclean, the gentile, as before, or mystically, concerning the Church militant or triumphant: there shall not enter into it any thing defiled (Rev 21:27). He also sets out straightness of the way: and this shall be unto you a straight way, so that fools shall not err therein, that is, however simple they may be, they will not err, because of the multitude of those traveling by it: I will bring them from the north country (Jer 31:8); he also sets out the security of the way: no lion shall be there, above: they shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain (Isa 11:19). And he sets out the frequentation of the ways: and the redeemed, those redeemed from the preceding dangers: for behold your children come, whom you sent away scattered (Bar 4:37).

Fourth, he promises them joy of heart: everlasting joy, above: he shall wipe away tears from every face (Isa 25:8); the condition of the joy of the saints in heaven is also shown, that it is everlasting; that it is full: they shall obtain, that it is pure: sorrow and mourning shall flee away: and God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of the saints: and neither mourning, nor crying, nor any sorrow shall be any more (Rev 21:4).

748. The saints are compared to lilies (see 35:1),

because of the height of its stem, from which is shown constancy in troubles: as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters (Song 2:2);

because of the sweetness of its scent, from which is shown good reputation: send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace (Sir 39:19);

because of the verdure of its humor, from which is shown virtue of mind: as the lilies that are on the brink of the water (Sir 50:8);

because of its connectedness, from which is shown the charity of the saints: your belly is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies (Song 7:2).

749. Christ clothes these lilies

as to the gifts of the virtues: consider the lilies of the field (Matt 6:28);

gathers them together to their eternal reward: my beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of aromatical spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies (Song 6:1);

rests in them, for he is pleased in them: I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feeds among the lilies (Song 6:2);

and therefore he himself is a lily: I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys (Song 2:1).