Isaiah 35: The Desert Shall Blossom
Strength for weak hands, eyes and ears opened, the lame leaping, and the holy highway home
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose… they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come" (35:1–4).
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 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" (vv. 5–6).
"And an highway shall be there… and it shall be called The way of holiness… 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" (vv. 8–10).
| Verses | What it says | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 35:1–2 | Desert and dry land rejoice; bloom like the crocus (havatselet); the glory of Lebanon, Carmel and Sharon; they see God's glory | The reverse of 33:9 and 34:9–15. |
| 35:3–4 | Strengthen weak hands and shaky knees; say to the fearful: be strong, fear not, your God comes to save | Quoted in Hebrews 12:12. |
| 35:5–6a | Blind eyes opened, deaf ears unstopped, the lame leap like a deer, the mute sing | Echoed in Jesus' answer to John (Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22). |
| 35:6b–7 | Water in the wilderness; mirage becomes a pool; jackals' haunts become reeds | The reversal of Edom's fate. |
| 35:8–9 | A highway, the Way of Holiness; no unclean, no lion; even the simple will not go astray; the redeemed walk there | Compare 11:16; 40:3; 62:10. |
| 35:10 | The ransomed return to Zion with singing and everlasting joy; sorrow and sighing flee away | Repeated word for word in 51:11. |
Roads in the desert
Ancient routes crossed the Syrian and Arabian deserts between Mesopotamia and Judah: the King's Highway east of the Jordan, caravan routes through oases. Royal inscriptions boast of roads built for kings and gods; Babylonian processional ways carried gods' statues. Isaiah's "way of holiness" uses that world for the return of God's people. It is not a road that can be traced on a map, and the site's atlas does not mark one.
Healing and disability
Verses 5–6 promise restored sight, hearing, movement and speech as part of creation's renewal, and verse 8 says even "fools" (the simple) will not lose the way. In the context of chapters 6 and 29, blindness and deafness are also metaphors for a people who would not perceive. The site reads the poem as a promise of wholeness, not as a claim that disability is a sign of sin.
Jesus' answer to John
When John the Baptist asks from prison whether Jesus is "he that should come," Jesus answers (Matthew 11:4–5; Luke 7:22, each Gospel's report): "the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." The list combines Isaiah 35:5–6, 26:19, 29:18–19 and 61:1. It is a composite allusion, not a quotation of one verse.
A poem of return and renewal, probably meant (with chapter 34) to introduce the themes of chapters 40–55: the desert transformed, God coming to save, the exiles' road home to Zion.
Jewish tradition read 35:5–6 of the messianic age and of the resurrection (reported from midrash). The Targum applies the highway to the return of the exiles.
Matthew 11:5 and Luke 7:22 present Jesus' healings as the signs of this poem. Hebrews 12:12–13 quotes 35:3 (with Proverbs 4:26) as encouragement to believers.
Christian hymnody and preaching apply the poem to salvation and to the new creation; some modern readers connect the blossoming desert with agricultural development in modern Israel. Those are later applications.
What the evidence shows
- Isaiah 35:10 and 51:11 are identical.
- Jesus' answer to John alludes to Isaiah 35:5–6 among other texts. Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22.
- The "way of holiness" can be located on a map. It is poetic.
- Hebrews 12:12 quotes Isaiah 35:3.
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageIsaiah 35:5–10: The blind see, the lame leap: Isaiah 35 and Jesus' answer to John"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Matthew 11:2–6; Luke 7:18–23Jesus' answer to John.
- Isaiah 40:3–5; 51:11The highway and the ransomed.
- Strengthen weak hands.
- Isaiah 29:18; 42:7The blind see.